A 26-year-old man was charged Friday with two felony sex-related counts for allegedly molesting a teenage girl who was found in the garage of his family’s Santa Clarita home after her parents reported her missing.
Authorities found him after calling his number in the girl’s phone records.
Kaene Dean pleaded not guilty to one count each of oral copulation involving a person under 16 and lewd act upon a child.
Dean remained jailed in lieu of $110,000 bail while awaiting his next court hearing, set for Aug. 18 in San Fernando.
The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred Tuesday.
The girl — who later told Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies that she befriended Dean at a Santa Clarita market — was reported missing at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Deputies from the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley Station searched the community and checked the teen’s phone records to try to find her.
Sheriff’s deputies called a phone number found on her phone records and a man later identified as Dean answered the phone, but denied knowing the girl’s whereabouts, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
When deputies arrived at the home, Dean’s parents allowed them inside, and they found the girl in the garage just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, said the Sheriff’s Department.
Dean — equired to register as a sex offender following his conviction for indecent exposure in Glendale — was arrested, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
— City News Service