An 80-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a young relative when she stayed with him in Murrieta was behind bars Friday after being apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jesus Zavala was arrested Wednesday when he tried to reenter the U.S. from Mexico, where he had allegedly fled earlier this year in the face of allegations of sexual abuse.
U.S. Border Patrol agents turned Zavala over to Murrieta police officers, who transported him to the Byrd Detention Center, where he was booked on suspicion of multiple lewd acts on a child. The suspect is being held on $3 million bail.
According to a police statement, the victim, whose identity was not disclosed, revealed last December that Zavala had allegedly molested her in 2019 and 2020, prompting an investigation by the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services and the police department.
The circumstances behind the alleged sexual abuse, and Zavala’s exact relationship to the victim, whose identity was not disclosed, were not provided.
Investigators said that sufficient evidence was gathered to obtain a warrant for the suspect’s arrest. However, before it could be served, Zavala “fled to Mexico, where he remained and avoided capture,” according to the police department.
It’s unknown what led him to return to the U.S.
Background information on Zavala was not available.