Day-care worker admits to molesting four children, prosecutors say

The former owner of a Boyle Heights day-care center faces 22 years in prison after pleading no contest Monday to molesting four children, three of whom attended the facility co-owned by his wife, authorities said.

Enrique Ramos, 46, of Los Angeles, was arrested in February 2013 on allegations of committing lewd acts on a child after the last victim told her mother, who then called Los Angeles police.

Days after Ramos’ arrest, the California Department of Social Services temporarily suspended his license to operate Cano & Ramos Family Child Care, located in the 2600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Los Angeles police told The Times the first allegation was made in 2008, when a mother reported that her 5-year-old daughter had been sexually abused. The mother, however, was homeless and disappeared before they were able to investigate.

After initially pleading not guilty to the first round of child molestation charges, Ramos later admitted to molesting two 5-year-old girls, a 5-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The incidents occurred in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.

Ramos on Monday pleaded no contest to five counts of sexual molestation involving all four victims and admitted a special allegation that the molestations occurred while he was a day-care worker, prosecutors said.

In addition to 22 years in state prison, Ramos will be ordered to register as a sex offender for life when he is sentenced on Nov. 17, according to the district attorney’s office.

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