OXNARD : Baby-Sitter Arrested in Molestation Case

A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexually molesting two young boys while he baby-sat them in their Silver Strand neighborhood, authorities said Thursday.

Kinji Richmond of Oxnard, who was arrested Wednesday evening, is suspected of molesting the children of eight or more other families during July and August, investigators for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said.

Although Richmond is described as a transient, he was able to persuade parents to allow him to baby sit in exchange for lodging, Detective John Fitzgerald said.

“He developed the parents’ trust,” Fitzgerald said.

Deputies confirmed that the parents who had allowed Richmond to stay with them, and who eventually alerted authorities, had worked as law-enforcement officers in Los Angeles County.

Richmond was well known in the tight-knit community for befriending dozens of children by buying them candy and having them help as he washed and detailed cars.

In addition to the two cases which led to Richmond’s arrest, Fitzgerald said that sheriff’s detectives are investigating four other possible cases. Oxnard police are looking into two additional cases, and Police Detective Ken Kent said there may be more.

“It’s always a possibility that there were more children involved and they just haven’t come forward yet,” Kent said. “We’re still digging into it.”