East Bay foster care father, adult son charged with sexually abusing children
The elder Chavez provided foster care to kids under Contra Costa's Children and Family Services division for at least 18 years. His son was a correctional officer with the state of California.
MARTINEZ — The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office has charged an Antioch man who was a foster care father for Contra Costa County and his adult son with sexually abusing multiple children, according to a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
The district attorney’s office charged Simon Chavez, 64, of Antioch, and his son, 31 year-old Atwater resident Simon Magana Chavez with sexually abusing multiple children and unlawfully having sex with a child.
The elder Chavez provided foster care to kids under Contra Costa’s Children and Family Services division for at least 18 years, but the district attorney’s office did not disclose whether his victims were kids in foster care or how they were related to the men, so as to protect the victims’ identities.
Chavez is being held at the Martinez Detention Facility with a bail amount set at $31.5 million. He entered a “not guilty” plea to 63 felonies.
His son, Simon Magana Chavez, as a correctional officer with the state of California as recently as 2018, according to a news release issued by the district attorney’s office. He was arraigned last week in Pittsburg Superior Court and charged with felonies and misdemeanors for crimes against two children, including lewd acts against a child and “unlawful sex”, according to the district attorney’s office. His bail is set at $1.23 million.
Because police are still investigating the case, the district attorney’s office is encouraging people with information about the case to contact Antioch Police Detective Kelly Inabnett at 925-779-6932.