Suspect Jailed in Molestations

A 21-year-old El Sereno man was arrested Friday afternoon and held on suspicion of committing a string of 12 acts of child molestation that had struck fear through the El Sereno area since last December, authorities said.

Jose Luis Rosales, who was also jailed for investigation of burglary, was arrested without incident while walking on a street near his home in the 3500 block of Warwick Street.

Police said they suspect Rosales of breaking into several homes and touching children while they slept. His arrest came after hundreds of leads poured in to the Hollenbeck police station after circulation of a composite drawing of the suspect.

“I can’t think of another case where I’ve had more citizen calls in my 18 years with the department,” said Police Lt. Sergio Robleto. “We had no less than 100 false sightings before we found him.”

Even though the suspect did not physically harm any of his victims, police said, the early morning burglaries and molestations struck considerable fear in the small, tightly knit Latino neighborhoods of El Sereno.

At one point, Robleto said, children at an elementary school panicked when they saw a man near the school grounds who resembled the composite that had appeared in several newspapers.