Foster home operator, former correctional officer son charged with sexual abuse

A father who operated a foster home in Antioch and his son, who is a former correctional officer in California, have been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of children, the Contra County District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

Simon Chavez, 64, of Antioch, pleaded not guilty on July 16 in court in Pittsburg to 63 felony counts.

He was a foster father at his Antioch home with Contra Costa County Children and Family Services and he fostered young children under his care for at least 18 years, prosecutors said. He is being held in the Martinez Detention Center under $31.5 million bail.

Simon Magana Chavez, 31, of Atwater in Merced County, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty Friday to felony charges of sexual abuse of multiple children and unlawfully having sex with a minor.

Magana Chavez was a correctional officer as recently as 2018, and his bail is $1.23 million, according to the district attorney’s office. The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information about the case is asked to call Antioch police Detective Kelly Inabnett at (925) 779-6932.