Victim of Burglary Accused of Sex Crimes : Investigations: A Downey man is charged with child molestation after a videotape stolen from his apartment is given to the alleged victim’s mother.

A Downey man was charged with molesting his 9-year-old neighbor after a burglar stole some video equipment from his apartment--and a homemade, pornographic videotape taken in the theft ended up in the hands of the girl’s mother.

Ward Allen Rafay, 28, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to nine felony counts of committing lewd acts with a child and one felony count of possession of marijuana for sale, according to Downey Municipal Court documents. Rafay is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing on March 1, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dean Shotwell said Thursday.

Rafay was arrested last Saturday after the girl’s mother viewed a portion of the videotape and called police, said Downey Police Capt. Bob Williams.

The tape allegedly showed Rafay fondling and performing oral sex acts on the girl. Rafay and the woman were friends and neighbors at the modest apartment complex on Neo Street, police and an apartment manager said.

Rafay told police that his apartment had been broken into about two weeks ago and some video equipment had been stolen, Williams said. The tape apparently was in the equipment, police said.

Williams said detectives are investigating the burglary of Rafay’s apartment and how the mother obtained the tape. The mother’s boyfriend told police that a friend of a friend bought a video camera from an unknown man and the tape was in it, according to court documents. They recognized the girl and turned it over to her mother.

No one has been arrested in the burglary.

“Everyone who is involved in this we’ll talk to,” Williams said. “Everyone is under investigation.”

Police also are investigating whether other neighborhood girls may have been molested. Williams said there is no evidence that Rafay was producing child pornography for sale.

Apartment manager Sheri Romero said the arrest has monopolized conversation in the complex of yellow stucco apartments on Downey’s West Side.

Tall and slender at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, Rafay had lived in the apartment for about five years and did not attract much attention, Romero said.

The alleged victim also had been living at the complex with her mother and four brothers and sisters for several years. They often visited Rafay.

“The mother and (Rafay) were good friends,” Romero said. “They used to go in (to Rafay’s apartment) all the time.”

The alleged victim told police that Rafay paid her to engage in sexual acts and to keep quiet, according to court documents.

Police found nine other videotapes when they searched Rafay’s apartment, according to court documents. Five of them were adult pornography and the rest general entertainment. Police also seized about a pound of marijuana, according to court documents.

If found guilty on all counts, Rafay would face 25 years in prison, Shotwell said.