Sacramento deputies arrest man accused of inappropriate behavior with kids at Goodwill store
Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies announced the arrest of a man they say acted inappropriately toward children and women inside a nonprofit thrift store in Antelope several times since late spring.
Investigators were first alerted to the 38-year-old male suspect on May 23 when a mother reported her 8-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted the day before while shopping at the Goodwill location on the 4400 block of Elkhorn Boulevard at Walerga Road, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday.
The child told deputies she was playing dress up when a man touched himself inappropriately “several times” after exposing himself, the release said. The man also touched her inappropriately, deputies said.
Her mother, who was trying on clothes when the alleged assault happened, returned and fled from the store with her child, the release said.
The case was assigned to the detectives in the Sheriff’s Office unit tasked with child abuse and was under investigation.
Several months later, Goodwill’s security reached out to the Sheriff’s Office after the man was seen Sept. 30 on store video surveillance footage touching himself inappropriately while a young child perused toys with her mother, deputies said.
The same man had been recorded three days before reportedly sneaking his cellphone under a woman’s dress. Video footage identified this suspect as the same 38-year-old man sought by deputies, deputies said.
Detectives had difficulty locating the suspect but eventually caught up with him when he returned to Goodwill on Thursday, according to deputies.
The man was arrested on suspicion of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old and annoying or molesting a victim under 18 years old, according to jail logs.
The suspect was being held on $100,000 bail in Sacramento County Main Jail and was scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday.
Those with information about the incidents or those who may know of another potential victim by the suspect are encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 916-874-5191.
ARREST MADE IN CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE
On May 23, 2024, a woman contacted the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office to report that her 8-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted at a thrift store the previous day. Deputies spoke to the child, and she told them that she was playing… pic.twitter.com/q95FXdiVNU— Sacramento Sheriff (@sacsheriff) October 4, 2024