East County
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A 41-year-old man was booked into County Jail Thursday on suspicion of 66 counts of molestation of at least two children, authorities said.
Robert Lester Wardell, a Spring Valley mechanic, befriended the parents of the 11- and 13-year-old girls, and then volunteered to take care of the children overnight, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said. Sheriff’s deputies said Wardell took the children to motels in El Cajon and Lemon Grove, where he gave them marijuana and showed them X-rated movies.
Sheriff’s deputies said the molestations took place over the last two months but that other children might be involved. The Sheriff’s Department is requesting calls from anyone with information in the case.
Wardell is being held in lieu of $660,000 bail.
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