A Sacramento man is being held on $1 million bail, accused of molesting a young girl earlier this week while working as a satellite installer in Woodland, police said.
Miguel Angel Perez, 46, was arrested at his residence Thursday morning, three days after he allegedly coerced his way into a Woodland family’s apartment and fled after being caught in the act of molesting the girl, Sgt. Brett Hancock said.
Relatives called police, who searched the area but were unable to immediately find the suspect.
According to Hancock, a subsequent investigation revealed that Perez, a subcontractor for several satellite television companies, had previously installed the family’s equipment last June.
“On Monday, Perez returned unsolicited by the family and advised the mother that he needed to check their equipment for problems,” Hancock said. “The mother explained to Perez they were not experiencing any satellite service-related problems, however, he persisted and finally convinced the mother to allow him inside to check their equipment.”
Within a few minutes the mother went into her daughter’s bedroom and found Perez molesting her daughter, Hancock said. Perez reportedly asked not to call police before fleeing the apartment.
Although the family did not know the suspect’s name or his employer, Woodland police detectives contacted several companies that provide satellite service to the region, none of whom reported sending anyone to the victim’s address for a service check, Hancock said.
“Through their extensive investigation over the next couple of days detectives were able to narrow down and confirm Perez as the suspect in this case,” he added.
Perez was booked into the Yolo County Jail on charges of committing a lewd act on a child and entering an inhabited dwelling and assaulting another with the intent to commit a lewd act on a child. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Yolo Superior Court.
Woodland police released a photograph of Perez and are asking citizens to contact them if anyone has had similar encounters with the suspect in which he has attempted to gain entry into their homes or obtain unsupervised access to their children. The phone number is 530-661-7800.