Man Pleads Not Guilty to Molestation : Courts: Paul Lynn Loe was arrested after photographs of a 4-year-old girl being abused were found in a trash dumpster.

A Rowland Heights construction worker pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he molested a 4-year-old girl and photographed the acts.

Paul Lynn Loe, 46, was arraigned in Citrus Municipal Court on 10 felony counts of child molestation and five felony counts of possession of child pornography, Deputy Dist. Atty. Christine Weiss said.

Loe was arrested Friday by Whittier police after photographs of the girl being molested were found in a trash dumpster behind a Whittier motel. He is being held at Walnut Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail pending a Jan. 13 preliminary hearing. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 29 years in prison.

Loe was arrested Dec. 20 on suspicion of molesting the same girl and charged with one count of performing a lewd act upon a minor. But he was released Dec. 28 because detectives could not find the photographs of the molestation the girl had mentioned.

Loe’s second arrest came after Jack Gray, a Whittier resident who was foraging through the dumpster looking for cigarette coupons, came across photographs that showed a girl being molested, a bedroom and the hand of a man wearing a ring that resembled a ring Loe wears, said Whittier police Detective Tom Lamping.

Police did not immediately realize these could be the missing photographs and released a photo of the child’s head and shoulders to local television stations in hopes of identifying her.

Calls flooded the police station, three of which identified the girl in the photos as the same 4-year-old allegedly molested by Loe. He was arrested again Dec. 31 and made admissions about the molestation to a sheriff’s deputy the following day, Lamping said.

Loe’s attorney, David R. Maldonado, indicated his client was remorseful but said he could not comment on the alleged confession. He said Loe may enter a plea bargain before his Jan. 13 hearing.

Loe and his girlfriend shared a Rowland Heights apartment unit on Greenport Avenue for about six months with the 4-year-old and her mother, but were not related to the girl, Weiss said. Loe baby-sat the girl about once a week in November and December.

Weiss said the child’s mother contacted authorities after her daughter told her about certain activities with Loe. Weiss said the 4-year-old told her there were photos taken during the molestation but the girl had no idea what Loe had done with them.

“It was just a godsend when these photos turned up,” Weiss said. “It completely corroborates the victim’s testimony.”

Weiss alleges that Loe threw the photos away in the dumpster shortly after he was released after his first arrest. Loe’s girlfriend told authorities the two were at the Whittier motel the week after Loe’s first arrest and Loe left her alone for a few minutes.