Costa Mesa : Garden Grove Man Held in Molestation Case
A 45-year-old Garden Grove man has been arrested on suspicion of molesting a 4-year-old girl, police said Sunday.
Gene Valdespino, was being held in Costa Mesa City Jail on suspicion of kidnaping, child molestation and false imprisonment, police said.
According to police, the girl, whose name was withheld, was playing in front of her Costa Mesa home at 6:20 p.m. Friday when a man drove up and motioned to her. When she walked to the car, the driver grabbed her and forced her inside the vehicle, police said.
A short time later, a man who had driven into a supermarket parking lot asked some women to direct him to a hospital because a girl in his car had been sexually molested, police said. The women directed him to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, then telephoned police.
Police stopped Valdespino in a car matching the description given by the caller as it was northbound on Harbor Boulevard near Wilson Street, which they said is not in the direction of Hoag hospital.
Police arrested Valdespino and took the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was treated and released to her parents.
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