Suspect Sought in Sexual Assault of 7-Year-Old Girl in Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa police are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl Sunday afternoon.
The girl and her mother were at a gated apartment complex on the 2100 block of College Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. when a man outside the gates called to the girl, police said.
When the girl approached the locked gate, the man reached through the wrought iron and fondled her, Sgt. Tim Chennum said. The man “sexually assaulted her by grabbing ahold of her,” Chennum said.
The man fled after the mother yelled at him, police said.
The assailant is described as a light-skinned Latino man in his late forties, weighing about 160 pounds and standing 5 feet, 9 inches. The man is balding with sparse gray hair and has one to three visible silver teeth. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a blue plaid shirt, dark pants and a straw cowboy hat, police said.
Anyone with more information is asked to call the Costa Mesa Police Department at (714) 754-5252.
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