SANTA ANA – A former Santa Ana teacher is facing federal sex tourism charges after authorities say he traveled to the Philippines to have sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Robert Ruben Ornelas, a former schoolteacher and girls softball coach, was taken into federal custody Friday, charged with engaging in sexual conduct in a foreign place, producing child pornography and possessing child pornography.

In a federal indictment, authorities said that during a trip to the Philippines in March 2012, Ornelas, 63, had sex with an underage girl, videotaped their encounter and brought the images back to the United States.

Relatives of Ornelas discovered the child pornography while searching a computer Ornelas owned after becoming suspicious that he was stealing Social Security and rental payments from his mother, the indictment said. Ornelas lived with the woman, who suffered from dementia.

The relatives found what they believed to be “large amounts” of child pornography, many of which they suspected showed children 10 years old or younger. The relatives contacted authorities, telling them that Ornelas also had a history of “inappropriate” behavior with young girls.

The indictment alleges that Ornelas either molested or sexually abused 10 girls, including a 4- or 5-year-old relative. However, he has only been charged in connection with one girl.

In an interview with police investigators, authorities say Ornelas admitted fathering two children with two sisters in the Philippines. According to the indictment, he acknowledged the younger sister was 17 years old.

Ornelas told investigators that he hadn’t touched any children inappropriately, according to the indictment.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 10.

Ornelas was already in custody in the Orange County Jail system after being arrested when local law enforcement discovered what they described as a trove of child pornography at his home. As a result of that arrest, he is already facing felony charges of lewd acts with a minor, among others, in Orange County Superior Court. That case is pending.

He is in federal custody.

Authorities say Ornelas worked as a teacher in the Santa Ana Unified School District from 1992 to 2003, and coached a local girls softball team. He is also believed to have worked in, or near, an unlicensed day care near his home in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com