Suspect in Child Sex Case Flown to L.A.

Suspected child molester Ronald Ruskjer, arrested in Detroit last week after pictures of him were circulated by investigators, was flown back to Southern California on Sunday and booked on two counts of child molestation, authorities said.

Ruskjer, 44, was accompanied on the flight by two investigators from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and was taken to the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. His bail was set at $2 million.

Sgt. Dennis Casey said Ruskjer is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in San Bernardino Municipal Court.

Ruskjer and his girlfriend, Evelyn (Evie) Bacilio, 33,were arrested Friday for allegedly molesting a 4-year-old Newport Beach girl.

Ruskjer, a onetime faculty member at Loma Linda University’s school of public health, was taken into custody in Detroit as he got off a flight from Tokyo. Bacilio was arrested in Las Vegas, where she apparently fled after her photograph was broadcast on television. She was being held in Nevada, where an extradition hearing is pending.

Detectives began searching for the pair after someone gave police instant-camera photographs found near Normandie Avenue and 1st Street in Los Angeles. The photos depicted a man and a woman apparently performing sex acts on a young girl.

Detectives believe that the photographs were thrown into the street by thieves who had stolen Ruskjer’s car.