Local Boot Camp Instructor Charged With Sexual Assault of Teen Girls

A man who runs a local area youth boot camp who was charged last May with kidnapping a 14-year-old girl had new charges of sexual assault filed against him on Wednesday, according to a press release from the county District Attorney's office.

42-year-old Monrovia resident Kelvin McFarland, who ran a boot camp with an Altadena mailing address, stands accused of having sexual relations with two 14-year-old victims in 2004.  The five felony charges are sexual penetration by a foreign object, forcible rape, oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, lewd act upon a child and unlawful sexual intercourse.

The charges are separate from the incident of May of 2011 and involve two other alleged victims from incidents that took place in 2004.

As , McFarland--who goes by the nickname "Sgt. Mac"--ran an organization called Family 1st Growth Camp.  The organization focused on intense exercise as a punishment for misbehavior.

McFarland was arrested on May 27 for allegedly handcuffing a 14-year-old girl who was skipping school and then attempting to extort money from her parents after bringing her home.

At his two-day preliminary hearing in July, prosecutors suggested that McFarland had a pattern of being intimidating and using physical force with his students, while the defense painted the whole incident as a misunderstanding and suggested that McFarland had received money from the girl's family as a down payment towards enrolling her in his program.

The new sexual assault charges could land McFarland in prison for up to 15 years if he is convicted, according to the press release.   If he is convicted of the kidnapping, extortion, child endangerment, unlawful use of a badge and child abuse charges stemming from the May 2011 incidents, he could face another 12.

McFarland is due in court in April 17 for a preliminary hearing on the new charges.

Related: