A RIVERSIDE man has been arrested for allegedly sexually molesting girls in Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Riverside (Shutterstock).

A 57-year-old Riverside man was arrested Friday by Santa Ana police detectives for allegedly sexually molesting young girls in Santa Ana, Riverside and Garden Grove.

According to the SAPD, Carlos Ramirez Valdez is facing charges for offenses he allegedly committed from 2014 to now. The suspect was a member of the Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church in Santa Ana and is accused of luring an 8-year-old girl into a van where he sexually assaulted her. He allegedly assaulted her for three years.

Riverside police investigated another sexual abuse case in Riverside in 2020 and one in Garden Grove that dated from 2015 but was reported in 2020. In all these cases, the victims knew the suspect through the church.

More recently he was a pastor at the International Mission Church USA in Santa Ana. He was booked into Orange County Jail on “numerous” child molestation charges and is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The SAPD believes there may be more victims. Anyone with more information relating to this is asked to call (714) 245-8350.