Yale Yurman

A Santa Clarita man who’s a registered sex offender accused of harassing children will be back in court next month.

Yale Yurman, 70, of Valencia, is facing child annoyance charges at three different locations in the Santa Clarita Valley, according to Deputy Josh Dubin of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Yurman’s case was continued until Aug. 9, when he will be back in court for a preliminary hearing.

At the hearing, a judge will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to hold Yurman over for trial.

He is currently being held on $1 million bail.

Residents of the Belcaro housing community have contacted KHTS over concerns with Yurman’s alleged behavior.

Sheriff’s Station detectives were alerted to Yurman’s activities by Target loss-prevention officers, who received a report from customers and contacted deputies with their information.

Deputies were told a man was following a young girl and videotaping her while she was walking around inside Target located on Magic Mountain Parkway in Valencia in June.

Through proactive work by Target’s loss prevention, detectives were able to identify the suspect, Dubin said.

On Wednesday, detectives served a search warrant in the 23700 block of Hickory Court in Valencia.

Yurman has several known aliases, according to the Megan’s Law website, which include Steve Simonian, Dale Orin Pettit and Joseph Abendana.

He has several convictions listed on the Megan’s Law site, including annoying/molesting a child under the age of 18, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age by force or fear and oral copulation with a minor under 14 years of age by use of force or fear.

Evidence was recovered which showed the suspect had been following young girls and videotaping them on several occasions.

These locations were identified as Target, Walmart and the Real Life Church in Valencia.

Another location was the Santa Monica pier, according to a Sheriff’s Station news release.

The suspect was arrested and is being held at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station with bail set at $150,000.

California has required sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agencies since 1947.

California’s Megan’s Law provides the public with certain information on the whereabouts of sex offenders so that members of our local communities may protect themselves and their children.

The law is not intended to punish the registrant and specifically prohibits using the information to harass or commit any crime against a registrant.

The Megan’s Law website at www.meganslaw.ca.gov has information regarding sex registrants living in your neighborhood.