Former Santee auto restoration businessman sentenced in underage sex abuse case

The former owner of a Santee car restoration business who was convicted of molesting two underage girls was sentenced Friday to 23 years and four months in state prison.

Joshua Cantor, 46, who owned Evolve Custom Automotive Restoration, was found guilty by an El Cajon Superior Court jury of more than a dozen counts related to sex acts with minors.

At Cantor’s sentencing hearing, Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Lorens said Cantor ingratiated himself with the families of the two victims so they would feel comfortable with him around their children, then groomed and manipulated the minors.

One of the victims sued Cantor, and in her lawsuit, she alleged he used the then-17-year-old girl’s interest in cars to get close to her. The complaint accused Cantor of sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions, taking nude photographs of the teen and telling her of “a ‘secret room’ he had at his workshop” where he had sex with girls and took photographs of them.

The lawsuit alleged that in April 2022, a passerby called police after seeing Cantor kissing the girl in his car.

In July 2024, a San Diego Superior Court judge awarded the victim more than $1.54 million in damages.

The victim’s attorney in the civil case, Maria Severson, said in a statement after Cantor’s sentencing hearing, “There is no amount of money or amount of liability that Joshua Cantor can give to make the pain of what he did go away. His despicable conduct leaves a lifeti...