By SDCN Editor
Santee, CA–A man was arrested Friday in connection with groping a 12-year-old student near a park on Thursday in Santee, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said.
An employee at the Santee Teen Center, which is located at Big Rock Park, was aware of the incident. The staff member called the Sheriff’s Department on Friday, just before 6:30 p.m., when he saw a man who matched the all-black clothing description of the suspect and his scooter.
Deputies with the Santee Sheriff’s Station caught up to the suspect near the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Ellsworth Circle. The man matched the description of a suspect who was captured in surveillance video following the incident.
Jose Lawrence Ruvalcaba, 29 was booked into San Diego Central Jail on one felony count of lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14 years old with force. He is being held on $250,000 bail.
The student from Chett F. Harritt School was walking towards Big Rock Park in the 8100 block of Arlette Street around 4 p.m. when a man approached her. He inappropriately touched her chest. A friend who was with the victim tried to intervene by pushing away the suspect. He took off on an electric black and gray scooter.
The child went home and told her mother about the incident who then called the Santee Sheriff’s Station.
The Sheriff’s Child Abuse Unit is handling the investigation.
It is the policy of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department not to release identifying information about minor victims.