Man accused of killing 11-year-old girl in 1973 is linked to 2 child sex assaults in SoCal: O.C. DA
03/14/2019 6:48 am PDT
By Tracy Bloom and Chip Yost, KTLA
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) -- A man accused of killing 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe nearly five decades ago has been linked to the sexual assaults of two other children, authorities said Wednesday, the same day the suspect made his first court appearance in Orange County.
James Neal, 72, has been charged with murder and multiple felony counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under the age of 14, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. He also faces a sentencing enhancement alleging he had multiple victims.
DA Todd Spitzer revealed after Neal appeared in court that he is now suspected in sex crimes against two other children from Riverside County.
According to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday, Neal is facing five counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 against two Jane Does between 1995 and 2004 in Riverside County.
Neal is also charged in the sexual assault and killing of O'Keefe, who vanished in Newport Beach on July 6, 1973, as she walked home from summer school. The girl's body was found the following day in a ditch in the Back Bay.
