NEWPORT BEACH : Child-Molestation Charges Dropped

Authorities on Monday dropped all charges against a mute transient accused of molesting three young girls, because the victims failed to pick him out in a police lineup.

Roland David Ecker, 55, was released from Orange County Jail on Monday after Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Anderson met with police and decided they did not have enough physical evidence for a conviction, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

Ecker was arrested Oct. 18 while walking on MacArthur Boulevard after a 9-year-old girl pointed him out as the man who woke her up one morning and fondled her.

The girl was one of three, whose ages range from 7 to 9, who told police that a man fondled them while they slept in their homes and had left when they awoke. None were sexually assaulted or physically injured.

During his arrest, Ecker presented to the officers a piece of paper with his name and birth date written on it. He also wrote that he “ceased talking” 14 years ago, police said. At his arraignment, where he was charged with three counts of felony child molestation and four counts of residential burglary, Ecker used cards marked “Y” and “N” to communicate yes and no answers, court officials said.

“He still has not spoken,” Gonis said. “He understood that (he was being released) because he evidently can hear. He simply chooses not to respond.”

Gonis said all three girls originally identified Ecker through photographs as the man who fondled them. However, they could not pick him out of a police lineup.