The Hollister man and former Boy Scouts leader suspected of sexually assaulting two juvenile teenagers between 2002 and 2005 had his latest preliminary setting put off until next week.
Joseph Alvarado, a former local Boy Scouts leader, has been arraigned on 42 counts of suspected sexual assault charges.
A preliminary setting, where a judge could schedule a preliminary hearing at which evidence is weighed for a possible trial, had been set for January and then March 26 at the San Benito County Courthouse before Judge Steven Sanders. That same preliminary setting has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, also before Sanders.
San Benito County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Alvarado in December in the 1000 block of El Toro Drive. He has been booked at the county jail. His bail was initially set at $1.75 million but was raised to $3.275 million.
Alvarado, a county emergency medical services specialist, was an assistant scoutmaster for a Boy Scouts troop in Hollister from 2010 until December when the organization dropped him. This past summer, he also worked with the relatively new Career Explorer Program at the Hollister Fire Department.
Boy Scouts generally range from ages 11 to 18. As for the explorer program at the fire department, Alvarado advised 22 participants ages 14 to 21 this past summer. Alvarado’s association with county EMS and the Boy Scouts led him to the advisement role with the explorers.
One victim was age 15 at the time of the suspected incident. The other was between 15 and 17 at the time.
The sheriff’s office executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home and obtained what the sheriff’s office described as “video and photographic evidence” in the case. Assisting the sheriff’s office in the investigation were San Jose police and the FBI. The sheriff’s office urges other potential victims to step forward and call the agency at (831) 636-4080 or the anonymous tip line at 636-4080.
