While away on vacation, my personal items were thrown in the trash.?

While on vacation for three months, i returned home to find my bedroom "re arranged". When I began to investigate further I noticed items were missing from my bedroom. I opened my closet door to see all of my mother's BOYFRIEND'S clothing! All of my keepsakes, photographs, a camera, my computer, and printer, a long with some of my babies items(baby bouncer and clothing) are all missing. My mother's boyfriend thought I was "gone for good" ( we do not get a long) and he actually threw MY things into the garbage! and he did all of this while my mother and I were out of town. He admitted to her that he threw away the items in the dumpster, and shows no remorse. I filed a police report, and am hoping to take this to court. I am so hurt that all of my cherished memories are forever lost, you cannot buy back memories. My question is, will this case hold up in court? what are some of my options? and how do i go about doing this in the State of California?