Local Man Accused of Fondling Girl

A 45-year-old Thousand Oaks man suspected of touching a girl’s buttocks on the Santa Monica Pier is scheduled to appear in a Burbank courtroom today on child molestation charges, authorities said.

Michael Patrick Biggs was booked into the Burbank Jail on Sunday after he allegedly followed a girl into a store on the pier and touched her through her bathing suit, said Burbank Police Det. Sgt. Tim Stehr.

The arrest came after a two-week investigation during which, police say, Biggs appeared on numerous occasions to be following young girls.

Biggs drew the attention of authorities after he appeared to be masturbating in the presence of young girls on a surveillance videotape in Burbank on Oct. 5, Stehr said.

Store security officers followed Biggs to his car and got the license plate number, authorities said. The store employees turned the tape and the vehicle information over to Burbank police. Ventura County authorities were notified after officers discovered that Biggs lived in Thousand Oaks.

On Saturday, Burbank officers and detectives from the Thousand Oaks sex crimes unit followed Biggs to a bookstore in Thousand Oaks, and then to several other stores in Woodland Hills. At every location, Biggs appeared to be following young girls, Stehr said, but he did not make any contact with them.

On Sunday, officers followed Biggs to a Calabasas park, Malibu State Beach and several other locations along Pacific Coast Highway, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike De Los Santos.

Biggs then went to the Santa Monica Pier, where thousands of people had assembled for the filming of a children’s TV show, authorities said.

De Los Santos said that Biggs appeared to follow a girl in a bathing suit and her mother into a store on the pier, where he then allegedly walked over to the girl and touched her buttocks.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of felony child molestation, De Los Santos said.

Biggs has no previous record of arrests, authorities said.

On Monday, Biggs was being held in the Burbank Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.