SoCal teen accused of molesting kids at daycare

ByLeticia Juarez and ABC7.com staff KABC logo
Thursday, January 22, 2015
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The 17-year-old son of a Highland daycare owner has been arrested on suspicion of molesting at least three young children.

HIGHLAND, Calif. -- The 17-year-old son of a Highland daycare owner has been arrested on suspicion of molesting at least three young children.

Authorities began investigating on Saturday after parents of a 3-year-old boy reported that their son was sexually abused at Sarita's Family Daycare, a licensed in-home daycare on the 25400 block of Fleming street.

Detectives say the daycare owner's son allegedly sexually abused at least three victims on a number of occasions while left unsupervised with the children.

"All three of the victims are 3 and 4 years old, both male and female," said Cindy Bachman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Investigators say they believe the suspect committed the crimes between January and December of last year when his mother left him in charge. The in-home daycare is licensed through a Sara Saucedo. Eyewitness News tried to contact her and received no response.

Neighbor Lisa Rebelo says she never saw anything out of the ordinary in the few months she's lived next door.

"It is very heartbreaking, because it happened next door. Just imagine what those little babies went through, and we didn't know nothing, we couldn't help them. It's disturbing," said Rebelo.

The suspect, whose name was not released because of his age, was arrested on Sunday and booked at San Bernardino Juvenile Hall for multiple sex crimes.

Investigators are concerned there may be other victims. Anyone with information was asked to call the sheriff's department at (909) 387-3615.