Man arrested on child sex abuse charges at Sacramento County thrift store
SACRAMENTO – A man was arrested as deputies say he is suspected of inappropriately touching a child at a Sacramento County thrift store while her mother was trying on clothes earlier this year.
The investigation began back in May when a woman contacted the sheriff's office saying that her 8-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted at a thrift store. Deputies said the girl told them that a man exposed himself to her and touched her inappropriately while she was playing dress up at the thrift store when her mother tried on clothes.
The suspect took off from the store but the store provided surveillance video to deputies, however, they were unable to identify him. The case was then forwarded to the Child Abuse Bureau.
Then on Sept. 27, the Child Abuse Bureau was contacted by the store, which provided more footage of the same suspect approaching a woman and putting his phone under her dress for a few seconds while she was looking at items on a shelf.
This time, deputies say they identified the suspect as 38-year-old Cesar Ponce.
Then days later, the store security again reached out to the Child Abuse Bureau with footage showing Ponce touching himself in the toys section while a girl was playing in the store while her mother was shopping, deputies said.
The Child Abuse Bureau tried locating Ponce but had a hard time doing so. It wasn't until Thursday evening that deputies said Ponce returned to the same store, leading to deputies responding and arresting Ponce.
He was then booked into jail for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 as well as annoying or molesting a child under 18.
Authorities believe there may be more victims in this case. Anyone who thinks they or their children are a victim of Ponce are urged to contact the sheriff's office.
