Marine recruiter arrested in California for alleged sexual abuse of teen he met at her school

An active service Marine Corps recruiter was arrested last week for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17 year old girl at a recruiting center in California, according to the agency and local law enforcement.

Sergeant Jorge Larapedroza was arrested on October 29, a day after he allegedly committed the attack in Sunnyvale, California, where he was booked for several crimes including “oral copulation, penetration with a foreign object and arranging a meeting with a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct,” according to a news release from the city’s Public Safety Department.

Larapedroza, originally from Virgina, met the alleged victim at a recruitment event at her school about a week prior to the reported attack, the news release said. A Marine Corps spokesman said he was relieved of his duties as a recruiter pending the conclusion of an investigation into his alleged misconduct.

“Marine Corps Recruiting Station San Francisco, part of the 12th Marine Corps District, was notified that Sergeant Jorge Larapedroza was taken into custody on Oct. 29, 2024, on a charge of sexual assault,” said Capt. Tess LaBossiere, a 12th Corps spokesperson. Marine Corps District, Military.com told us in an email Monday.

“The Marine Corps takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously and is cooperating fully with law enforcement authorities,” she said. “We are concerned about any conduct that is inconsistent with military and civilian law, our core values, or that has the potential to violate the public trust.”

The news outlet SFGATE reported last week that the Marine was being held on a $245,000 bond.

Larapedroza enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2016 and served as an avionics technician, according to service records provided to Military.com. Since 2021, he has been stationed at Recruiting Station San Francisco.

The Department of Defense strictly prohibits recruiters from having inappropriate relationships with young people seeking to join the service, to prevent abuse by uniformed service members who are expected to lead the next generation of troops into the military.

The arrest follows another case of recruiter misconduct in the Marine Corps former Artillery Sgt. Christopher Champagne37, was sentenced last month to a year in prison, reduction of his rank and a dishonorable discharge after having an inappropriate relationship with a teenage recruit.

The family of the victim in that case said Champagne groomed, sexually assaulted and abused the teen for more than a year. Champagne wrote a self-published “memoir,” in part describing his own inappropriate relationship with the recruit.

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