Son, 47, Of Babysitter Arrested For Child Molestation In Sylmar
SYLMAR (CBSLA.com) — A 47-year-old man was in custody Friday after being accused of molesting multiple children and filming the abuse in Sylmar.
Israel Sanchez has been charged with molesting an 18-month-old who was being babysat by his mother, who runs an unlicensed daycare at their apartment in the 13000 block of Foothill Boulevard.
Authorities served a search warrant at the home early in the week and seized computers and cameras related to Internet transmissions of child pornography.
"Israel had hidden video cameras inside of his room, had taken some of the children into his room and had sexually abused them while recording his criminal activity," LAPD Det. Nicole Kittle said. "On the video there are six children so far. Two of them we actually have identified, the other four we have not identified."
LAPD's Mission Police Department detectives joined federal agents in the investigation after the evidence was found, police said.
"We believe these children were clients of Sanchez's mother, who babysat for families in the neighborhood," said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the Mission Detective Division. "What's more, we discovered Sanchez's room was rigged with cameras to record the molestation for distribution over the Internet."
Investigators said it was unclear how many children Sanchez's mother has babysat since she started in 1995, but they believe she was unaware of the crimes.
Charges have yet to filed in the case involving other victim, a 10-year-old, detectives have identified.
Sanchez is an alien resident, and his immigration status has been put on hold by ICE.
He is being held on $100,000 bail.
The computers and cameras will be examined forensically so detectives can identify other possible victims.
"We'll use their findings to identify victims, but in the meantime, if a family has used the babysitting services at the apartment or allowed their child contact with Sanchez, we'd like them to contact us," Vernon said.
Anyone with more information is asked to call Det. Marc Madero, Mission Sex Division, at (818)838-9969. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
