Sex Offender Accused of Fondling Boy
A registered sex offender was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of fondling a 14-year-old boy in the restroom of a restaurant in Irvine, police said.
John Bergen, 48, of Hollywood reportedly followed the boy into the restroom and began to rub the boy’s leg from ankle to thigh, according to a police statement.
The boy fled and reported the incident to his parents, investigators said. Bergen left the restaurant through an emergency exit, which sounded an alarm and alerted employees and patrons. The boy’s father and another patron followed the man into the parking lot but lost him at a nearby hotel. Responding patrol officers arrested him there, the statement said.
The Orange County district attorney’s Sexual Assault Unit has filed a felony case against Bergen, who is registered in Los Angeles as a sex offender. He is being held on $50,000 bail at the Orange County Jail.
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