Recently in 288(a) Category

Gregory Scott Serrano, 33, of Monrovia, entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment Friday in his child molestation and child pornograhpy case, according to officials from the district attorney's office:

PASADENA -- A Monrovia man suspected of luring 10 teenage girls via the Internet to molest them and take pornographic pictures of them appeared in court last week, officials said.
Gregory Scott Serrano, 33, entered a not guilty plea Friday at the Pasadena Superior Court, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office officials said.
Serrano is charged with 20 counts of child molestation stemming from the alleged molestations, which are believed to date back to June of 2006, said United Stated Attorney Joey Blanch, who is prosecuting the case.
The alleged victims are between 13 and 17 years old, Blanch said.
Serrano allegedly used social networking Web site such as MySpace.com and Netlog.com to meet the underage girls, Blanch said.
He was arrested March 12 after a 15-year-old girl told her parents that Serrano had molested her, officials said.
In addition to the local charges, Serrano has also been indicted federally on suspicion of 23 crimes including using the Internet to entice minors, producing and possessing child pornography and destroying evidence.
If convicted on the federal charges, Serrano could face life in prison, Blanch said.
Serrano is due back in court June 30 for a pre-trial conference, officials said.

El Monte police are investigation allegations that a custodian at a local elementaty school inappropriately touched a young girl in late April.

The unidientified custodian is now on paid administrative leave as police continue to investigate, according to school district officials.

Here's an excerpt from a story running in tommorrow's paper:

 EL MONTE -- A custodian at a local elementary school is currently on paid administrative leave as police investigate allegations that he inappropriately touched a student earlier this year, police and school district officials said.
The alleged incident occurred April 25 at La Primaria Elementary School, 4220 Gilman Road, said El Monte police Detective Ernie Cramer.
The name of the custodian, a man in his 60s, was not released, he said. He has not been arrested.
The investigation involves "inappropriate touching above the clothes," said Cramer.
A girl in the 3rd grade came forward and told school officials that the custodian had touched her inappropriately earlier in the day, Cramer said.
School officials immediately contacted the girl's parents and the El Monte Police Department, he said.
Mountain View School District Director of Special Projects Alan Morier said it's district procedure to place any employee being investigated by police on paid administrative leave.

Former Pomona teacher Steven Petralia is set to be sentenced in Superior Court *tomorrow.

A wrong way crash on the Southbound 605 kills a driver.  Just minutes before the accident, Anissa Rivera, our "Mom's the word" blogger describes her family's close call.

APU students are causing a parking problem in the neighborhood.

The search for more Manson Family victims at Barker Ranch in Inyo was a big zip.

Sheriff's Department about to release more information in the March slaying of a Covina Hills woman who was on the phone with 9-1-1 when she was shot to death.

An unidentified man (left) confronts a man identified as Jaime Elvis Elizondo, 33, of San Gabriel in the children's section of Border's Bookstore at Santa Anita Mall last Saturday.

Elizondo, a registered sex offender, is accused of molesting a young girl inside the store.

A seven-minute video tape of the incident shows the man identifed as Elizondo approaching the girl several times.

Wearing a red shirt, the suspect walks by, walks away and walks by again before appearing to kneel down next to the girl.

The suspect goes unnoticed for several seconds before the onlooker confronts him and chases him from the bookstore.

Here's a segment from today's story on the incident:

Elizondo is suspected of "touching his exposed genitals up against a young female child" in a Borders bookstore at Westfield Santa Anita, 400 S. Baldwin Ave., on Saturday, according to Arcadia police Lt. Ron Buckholtz.

A 32-year-old Temple City man confronted the suspect and he fled, but the man was able to later identify the suspect from a Web site listing convicted predators, police said.

The man turned over the information to Arcadia police detectives, who were able to show it to other witnesses and confirm the suspect's identity, Foley said.

"Kudos to the gentleman for taking the time not only to intervene, but to follow up on his own," Foley said. "It led to a quick arrest."

 

This comes from the Arcadia Police Officer's Association blog. Just happened to notice it a few minutes ago:

A San Gabriel man was arrested today for Lewd Acts with a child after follow-up by APD Detectives. The suspect allegedly stalked and molested a young girl who was in the children's area of the Border's Book Store, Westfield Shopping Town, during the morning hours of Saturday, May 17th. A witness rushed to the aid of the young girl, knocking the suspect away. The suspect fled on foot but the crime was caught on video tape.

Unlucky for this predator, a quick thinking witness turned to the internet and helped bring the suspect's identity to the forefront by locating him through a registrant database. Detectives conducted the follow-up and arrested 33 year old Jaime Elvis Elizondo without incident. Elizondo was booked at APD on one count of PC 288(a).

The state's Megan's law database indicates Elizondo lived on Sunset in San Gabriel. He has at least one prior for the same offense according to the state

Three boys and nine girls claim they were molested my substitute teacher V. Cleon Harper, according to the felony complaint filed against Harper by the Los Angeles County District Attorney.

Harper, who is being held on $1 million bail was scheduled for arraignment at the Pomona courthouse Monday, but that arraignment was postposed until April, 18, according to Sandi Gibbons in the DA's office.

Meanwhile, friends of Harper turned to this blog to begin a campaign of support for their colleague. This comment was left on an earlier entry:

If your reporter were doing his job he would also have discovered this. The teacher coached the students in writing 'mysterious' events about Harper, as a writing exercise. None of the written assignments described any 'touching' other than a light touch on the shoulder. It was only after feedback by the teacher and the administrator that children began to talk about other forms of touching. This same class was known for being disruptive to sub teachers in the past. Harper is among the most upstanding people in the Azusa community and this 'witch-hunt' is an unparalleled abuse of power and authority by the School district, by Child Protective Services and by the Azusa Police Department. It was a complete over reaction to childish fiction to 'get back' at a sub teacher who tried to hold them accountable for their collective mis-behavior.