GLENDALE — A young Alhambra man has pleaded not guilty to allegations of molesting 8-year-old and 3-year-old Glendale brothers he babysat over the course of eight months, authorities said.
Jordan Liu, 19, appeared in Glendale Superior Court Monday to answer to eight charges of child molestation, court officials said.
The allegations came forward as the children’s mother was discussing the ongoing child molestation investigation at Pennsylvania State University, police said.
He was arrested Nov. 22 after the older boy told his mother 11 days earlier that he’s been sexually assaulted by Liu, who the family had hired as a babysitter through the Website “Sittercity.com,” Glendale police officials said in a written statement. “The suspect provided babysitting services and took the child on outings at least once a month for the past eight months.”
The boys’ mother did not suspect any inappropriateness involving Liu when she began discussing a news story about the ongoing child molestation investigation at Pennsylvania State University as a form of educating her 8-year-old son and raising his awareness, according to the police statement.
“The mother soon learned that her 8-year-old son had been victimized by the babysitter,” the statement said.
After launching an extensive investigation, detectives found evidence of sexual abuse of both the 8-year-old boy and his 3-year-old brother.
Sittercity.com has been cooperating with detectives, officials added. In addition to Sittercity.com, Liu also advertised his services on another similar Website, “Care.com,” according to Glendale police.
Sittercity.com’s Website features the slogan, “We focus on safety, so you can focus on finding the right fit.”
“Sittercity was deeply saddened to learn of this situation,” Sittercity spokeswoman Mary Schwartz said in a written statement. “As soon as it was brought to our attention, we terminated Mr. Liu’s account and notified anyone who may have had contact with him about the termination.”
“Sittercity takes safety very seriously,” Schwartz said. “Each caregiver who registers on Sittercity is pre-screened to verify his (or) her identity and the caregiver’s information is checked against state sex offender registries. “In addition, we allow members to run background checks on the site through LexisNexis. Background checks include identification verification and a national criminal search of local, state and federal criminal records.”
Before advertising with Sittercity.com, sitters must acknowledge a pledge to “put safety first,” and “be professional and uphold my commitments,” according to the Website.
Because of the ongoing investigating, Schwartz said, Sittercity.com deferred all further comments to police investigators.
While police were unaware of any additional victims tied to Liu, “the investigation indicates he may have conversed with over 100 parents through the web service, but it is unknown how many actually may have hired him as a babysitter,” the police statement said.
After pleading not guilty Monday, Liu was ordered held in lieu of $2.7 million bail, police said.
He’s due in Burbank Superior Court Jan. 5, when a date for his preliminary hearing will be selected, court officials said.
Liu faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted as charged.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Glendale police at 818-548-3106.