Above: Ruben Franco arrest photo | Banning PD
In February of 2021, Banning police took a report from a victim who claimed they had been sexually assaulted for four years, from the age of 10 to 14, in 1995 to 1999.
The victim identified the suspect as her school counselor, Ruben Rico Franco, who was in his late 30s at the time.
Detectives ran a very detailed investigation and were able to build a case towards Franco.
After a thorough investigation, detectives were able to build a case against Franco, now 62, tracking him to the city of San Diego and placing him under arrest on December 1, 2022.
Franco was booked into Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on a litany of child sexual abuse charges, including sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and lewd act on a child under the age of 14 with force. His bail has been set at $2 million.
