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Stanislaus County Father Restrains Sex Offender After He Is Accused Of Breaking Into Young Girl's Bedroom

GRAYSON (CBS13) - Surveillance cameras at a home in Stanislaus County captured the aftermath of a fight involving a registered sex offender early Tuesday morning.

An individual broke into a young child's room while a family in Grayson was sleeping at around 5 a.m., according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office.

CBS13 spoke with Martha Zepeda and her older daughter, Ceci Ramirez. Ramirez translated for us what her mother says happened.

"He went and knocked the door, he tried to open the door, peeking through the window, trying to see and he was showing his private parts around the windows," Ramirez said.

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Mugshot of Daniel Diaz, 39 (credit: Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office)

She said that her father then warned the man to leave, then went to the kitchen window and learned the suspect went around the house. The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office identified the man as 39-year-old Daniel Diaz.

Ramirez, translating for her mother, said the screen for the window was then tossed to the ground and entered the home.

"The man turned on the lights and that's when my sister woke up and she got scared," Ramirez said.

She said her father tackled Diaz and pulled him out of the house.

The security footage captured the group outside and shows Ramirez's father pinning Diaz down. You can hear the father duct tapping Diaz to restrain him as they called 9-1-1.

"I was pretty scared because I thought the man would've taken and kidnapped her," Ramirez said.

"It's really sad that people are outside doing things like that," Erica, a next-door neighbor, said.

Zepeda told CBS13 that her younger daughter is fine but she's scared. Ramirez has a similar feeling.

"I feel like I'm not safe," she said.

She told CBS13 that she's proud of her father protecting their family. It was an intense and disturbing morning for this family and the neighborhood after hearing about what happened.

"We're girls and we didn't know if it was going to happen to us. It could've been us," Erica said.

The sheriff's office said Diaz was arrested and is now facing charges, including child endangerment, peeping and prowling.

According to the Megan's Law website, Diaz was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape in 2009 and later released in 2018.

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