FARGO — A former California cheerleading coach was arrested in Fargo on child molestation charges in two states.
Erick Joseph Kristianson, 44, of Antioch, Tennessee, faces multiple felonies in Orange County, California, that allege he molested six girls, some as young as 11 years old, while coaching a competitive cheer club near Los Angeles, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
He could be sentenced to up to life in prison if convicted.
Kristianson also faces child molestation and child exhibition charges in Florida related to four young competitive cheer athletes he coached in Daytona Beach, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
The Fargo Police Department confirmed it arrested Kristianson on April 25 in the 2800 block of 10th Street North. It’s unclear why Kristianson was in Fargo, but a spokesperson for Orange County prosecutors said they are investigating any connections to Fargo.
Kristianson is currently being held without bail at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange County. A phone message left for his attorney was not returned Thursday, May 11.
Kristianson worked as a competitive cheerleading coach at Magic All-Stars from 2002 to 2008 and as an assistant cheer coach in 2005 at Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo, California, where he is accused of gaining access to six young girls that he molested in Orange County, according to prosecutors. The allegations against him arose in 2022 after he was arrested in Daytona Beach on suspicion of masturbating on camera to three children between the ages of 11 and 13 and touching the breasts of another 13-year-old girl, prosecutors said.
The Florida girls were students of Kristianson’s competitive cheer club in Daytona Beach, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Kristianson molested five other Orange County girls he coached between 2002 and 2007. Prosecutors alleged he routinely took some of the girls ages 11 to 16 to off-campus events and to his home to sexually abuse them.
Authorities believe there may be more victims. Prosecutors asked anyone with information on potential allegations to call Orange County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Austin Jones at 714-647-4016.
Kristianson previously was arrested in August in Kansas so he could be extradited to Florida for allegedly exposing himself to three teenage girls on a FaceTime call, prosecutors said. He posted a $300,000 bond without restrictions on leaving the state, prosecutors said.
