Los Retros Frontman Charged with Child Abuse Crimes Ahead of LA Concert

Mauricio Tapia, the 26-year-old frontman for the Southern California band Los Retros, was charged with four felony counts of unlawful acts with a child under the age of 10. The charges were filed in Ventura County Superior Court on Monday, just days before the band was scheduled to perform in Los Angeles.

Tapia faces additional disturbing special allegations, including that the victim was vulnerable and that he allegedly took advantage of them from a position of trust. His bail has been set at $3 million, and he has not yet entered a plea. His next court date is scheduled for October 22.

Los Retros, who performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, had their performance at the Stones Throw 30 music festival on Friday in Los Angeles canceled. An organizer removed the band from the lineup due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Stones Throw Records, the band's label, announced earlier this week that it was dropping Los Retros. In a statement, the record company said, "Yesterday we learned of extremely serious and disturbing allegations against Mauri Tapia, professionally known as Los Retros."

The label added, "We had previously announced the cancellation of his scheduled performance at Stones Throw 30 before we were aware of these circumstances. In light of this information, we are taking steps to disassociate ourselves from Tapia and his work. We take these allegations extremely seriously and will continue to assess the situation as more information becomes available."

Los Retros, founded by Tapia in 2016, had garnered significant popularity, with over 2.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Their song "Someone to Spend Time With" has accumulated more than 271 million streams.