Tanning salon owner accused of molesting teenage boys

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A 49-year-old businessman has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a number of teenage boys at a tanning salon he owns in Thousand Oaks, authorities said Friday.

Gary Alan Haw of Agoura Hills hired boys, ages 12 to 19, to work at his Tan LA salon and would let them use the facility after hours, according to a news release from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. While they were tanning he molested them, officials said.

Alleged assaults also occurred elsewhere, taking place over a 12-year period starting in August 2000.

‘Investigators believe that Haw targeted families in turmoil and single-parent families with teenage boys,’ according to the sheriff’s office.

After striking a 17-year-old bicyclist with his father’s Porsche in 1987, Haw was convicted of hit-and-run driving and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He was given a two-year sentence.

Three months after he started serving time, Haw complained that he had been raped by other inmates and ignored by medical staff at the state prison in Chino. A judge rejected his request to be moved.

Because of his felony record, bail in the sexual assault case was set at $500,000. Arraignment is set for Dec. 17 in Ventura County Superior Court.

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-- Steve Chawkins in Ventura