A Canyon Country man accused of sexually assaulting a child and fleeing from deputies pleaded no contest in court Wednesday to four counts of sexual assault related to his arrest in December 2020, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Humberto Guzman Lemus returned to court and pleaded no contest to four counts of sexual assault in addition to five counts already levied against him early October. Lemus pleaded no contest — similar to a guilty plea in that an individual accepts a conviction for the charges brought against them, but without admitting guilt.
Lemus was charged with two counts of sodomy by force of a victim under 14, one count of oral copulation by force of a victim under 14 and one count of sexual penetration by force of a victim under 14.
According to the D.A.’s Office, Lemus faces a possible sentence of 40 years. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 14.
Lemus was arrested in December 2020 and subsequently charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child and one count each for each of the following: sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years or younger; oral copulation or sexual penetration with (a) child 10 years old or younger; and one misdemeanor count of resisting a peace officer.
Earlier in October as part of a negotiated plea, Lemus pleaded no contest to continuous sexual abuse, resisting arrest and two different counts of forcible oral copulation of a minor under the age of 14.
After responding to a domestic violence call on the 27000 block of Fahren Court in Canyon Country on Dec. 8, 2020, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies found a young girl who told them that her stepfather had been continually sexually assaulting her, investigators said.
“Upon contacting a minor female at the location, she disclosed that she had been sexually assaulted on an ongoing basis by her stepfather,” said Sgt. Brain Hudson, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Unit, “for a period going back over the last eight years.”
While deputies were conducting their investigation, the suspect attempted to run from deputies, which prompted a search of the area. The suspect was later found within the deputies’ “containment zone,” and then taken into custody, according to Lt. James Royal of the SCV Sheriff’s Station, shortly after the investigation.
