$1 Million Bail For Convicted Child Molester

A Vista judge Thursday doubled the bail -- to $1 million -- for a convicted child molester accused of inappropriately touching another youngster after a prosecutor said the defendant had threatened to jump bail or commit suicide.

A preliminary hearing had been scheduled today for Hubert Haraszewski, 32, of North Hollywood, but it was postponed to Jan. 16. Deputy District Attorney Patricia Lavermicocca told Judge K. Michael Kirkman that in letters and telephone calls, Haraszewski indicated he may "kill himself or ... skip bail if he gets out of custody."

Haraszewski had been free on bond until Nov. 21, when a judge raised the bail amount to $500,000. He's been in custody ever since. His attorney, Jan Ronas, said his client made court appearances while he was free and did not kill himself when he had the chance.

The defendant, who served a nine-year prison term following a 1996 conviction for child molestation in Ventura County, is accused of befriending a 12-year-old Costa Mesa boy and inappropriately touching him during a camping trip to San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County.

Orange County authorities are investigating whether any molestations occurred there, Lavermicocca said. There could be as many as four victims, she said. "We're just now getting to the bottom of this, identifying other victims and identifying other witnesses," Lavermicocca said.

Yesterday, a detective seized three computers and some thumb-drives from the defendant's parent's house in Palmdale, she said. A photograph on the computer indicated the possible fourth victim, who has not been identified, the prosecutor said. Lavermicocca told the judge that Haraszewski has tried to get a friend to "go through his stuff," but she did not specify what that was.

He also said in a telephone call that he could "take care of" the Orange County case if he could get out of jail, according to the prosecutor.