Charges Filed in Dana Point Molestation Case : Crime: The 13 counts against the 30-year-old San Juan Capistrano man, who is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, involve 10 girls between the ages of 6 and 10.

Thirteen counts of child molestation and harassment were filed in Municipal Court here Wednesday against a man suspected of stalking a Dana Point neighborhood for four months.

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The charges against Thomas Michael Cimino, 30, of San Juan Capistrano, include one count each of forced lewd behavior and indecent exposure, three counts of attempted child molestation and eight counts of child annoyance.

The charges involve 10 girls between the ages of 6 and 10, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, Cimino’s arraignment on the charges was postponed until Tuesday because his attorney wanted time to study Orange County sheriff’s reports.

Cimino, calmly chatting with his wife and attorney from behind a wire cage in court, bore little resemblance to the police composite drawing that was circulated in the Capistrano Beach community where nine incidents of child molestation and harassment had been reported since March.

He was arrested late Monday by sheriff’s deputies who had taken a photograph of Cimino and shown it to children who had been victimized. They made what investigators are calling a positive identification of Cimino by nine children.

Judge Arthur G. Koelle denied media requests to take pictures of Cimino in court, saying he didn’t want to prejudice the case.

Cimino’s attorney, Paul J. Wallin of Santa Ana, gave an early sign of a possible defense strategy after appearing in court, telling a phalanx of reporters in the highly publicized case that testimony from young children is often unreliable.

“Don’t rush to a judgment in this case,” he said. “He has been ID’d by a 6-year-old girl in a photo lineup, that’s all. Even if it was 10 girls, that doesn’t mean he did it.” Wallin accused the Sheriff’s Department of bowing to community pressure to make an arrest.

“They are destroying (Cimino’s) life and the life of his family,” the attorney said.

Sgt. Hal Brotheim, head of the sex crimes division of the Sheriff’s Department, disclosed Wednesday that investigators now suspect that in addition to stalking a neighborhood, Cimino also exposed himself to a young girl on a basketball court at Palisades Elementary School on May 27.

In most of the other counts, prosecutors allege Cimino approached children in a park or in front of their home and attempted to lure them behind foliage with a story about his lost kitten.

In the one molestation charge, prosecutors allege the suspect grabbed an 8-year-old girl and forced her to touch him in a sexual manner.

The girl’s mother said her child, who, according to investigators, picked Cimino from a photo lineup on Tuesday, “feels much better; she was practically glowing when she heard (a suspect) was caught.”

“A lot of us feel better now, because before he was some kind of faceless boogie man,” she said. “Now there’s a real-life person behind bars that I can direct my anger towards.”

Court records show that Cimino had been charged with exposing himself before several young girls near a Manhattan Beach church in 1990. He ultimately agreed to a reduced charge of lewd conduct and was placed on three years’ probation, which has expired.