Chiropractor charged with sexually assaulting 7 female patients while treating them at Irvine clinic

A chiropractor who has worked throughout Southern California and in Virginia was charged with sexually assaulting seven female patients while treating them at an Irvine clinic, the Orange County District Attorney announced Wednesday.

Lincoln Esguerra Carillo, 60, was arrested in Virginia last week and brought back to Orange County Monday. He was charged with nearly two dozen felony and misdemeanor counts of sexual penetration, sexual battery, and touching an intimate part of another person.

"Dr. Carillo exploited the high level of trust we place in our medical professionals, to prey upon his victims," Irvine police Chief Michael Kent said in a statement.

According to the district attorney's officials, Carillo worked at Twins Chiropractic in Irvine for about four years. During his time there, a female patient who saw Carillo several times between April and May of 2021 alleges he sexually assaulted her during seven of the visits. After she reported the sexual assaults to Irvine police in May of 2021, investigators identified six more female patients who said they had been sexually assaulted between January and August of 2021, including a woman who had required chiropractic care after being injured in a car accident.

"Vulnerable patients seeking chiropractic treatment for aches and pains should not have to worry about being sexually assaulted," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. "Chiropractors and other medical professionals are trusted by their patients to treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Instead, this individual preyed on their vulnerability and sexually assaulted them."

Carillo is believed to have had ties to chiropractic offices in Artesia, Los Angeles, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Long Beach, Irvine, Orange, Upland, Cerritos, Costa Mesa, Placentia, Garden Grove, Riverside, and Herndon, Va. Due to his work spanning Southern California and extending to the East Coast, authorities believe there may be more victims.

He is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

Anyone with information about Carillo or who believes they may be a victim can contact Irvine police Detective Nate Ridlon at nridlon@cityofirvine.org.