A San Mateo youth coach was arrested Tuesday for unlawful sexual acts with a minor, oral copulation with a person under 18 and selling or giving marijuana to a minor, according to police.
The man was identified as Martin Ivan Pantoja, 25. The investigation began in January and detectives are determining if there are additional victims. Anyone with additional information about Pantoja’s alleged crimes or who may have been victimized but not yet come forward is asked to contact Detective Odette Pena at (650) 522-7656 or opena@cityofsanmateo.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted to http://tinyurl.com/SMPDTips or by calling (650) 522-7676.
In addressing child abuse, San Mateo police offered the following advice: There are steps that adults and parents can take to minimize its prevalence. Reduce opportunities for children to be in isolated and one-on-one situations and ensuring that children are in environments where they can be observed. Talk honestly about child abuse. Children often keep abuse a secret, but early discussions about abuse, body parts and boundaries go a long way in child abuse prevention. Let children know abusers can be people they know and love. Recognize the signs of child abuse. Often the signs of child abuse are not obvious, and many times they are not physical. Behavioral and emotional signs like being rebellious or overly compliant are common. React responsibly to child abuse. If your child discloses abuse to you, remain calm. Do not react with anger or disbelief. Make sure to tell your child you believe them and praise your child for being brave enough to make the disclosure to you.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.