Girls Allegedly Abused Sexually, Physically By Stepfather For 13 Years

A California man, accused of sexually abusing his two stepdaughters over a period of 13 years, was arrested Sunday.

According to a press release from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, Micah Lanere Smith, 41, from Calabasas, faced eight counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child after an investigation was launched into his alleged misconduct two months ago.

On Feb. 15, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department started the investigation after receiving reports of suspected child abuse and spoke to one of the victims in that regard. The woman told the investigators that her stepfather sexually abused her from the age of nine until she was 18 years old. The department traced the alleged crimes back to Ventura County and hence forwarded a courtesy report to latter’s sheriff’s department.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department's sexual assault unit joined the investigation Feb. 19 after receiving the report, the press release stated. As they probed further into the case, they discovered that the victim’s sister was also abused by the accused. Although the second victim had reported cases of abuse against her back in 2014, she refused to cooperate with the detectives regarding the recent allegations and told them she did not want to pursue an investigation.

The names of the victims were withheld by the police.

A number of interviews were conducted by investigators regarding the case in Lancaster, California, as well as in the state of Oklahoma. After following several leads, authorities learned that the accused had carried out both physical and sexual abuse for the extended period of 13 years on his two stepdaughters.

Smith was arrested from Camarillo, California, by Thousand Oaks deputies without incident. No other details about the case were revealed by authorities.

“Smith was booked into the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility. Due to the nature of the crime a bail increase was requested and granted. Smith’s bail is currently set at $3,600,000. Smith is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on May 7, 2019,” the press release stated.