A 73-year-old Riverside daycare operator accused of molesting three children under his supervision pleaded not guilty Thursday to nearly a dozen felony charges.
David Diaz was arrested in March following an investigation by the Riverside Police Department’s Sexual Assault-Child Abuse Unit.
Diaz, who is being held in lieu of $6 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, is charged with five counts of lewd acts on a minor and six counts of forced oral copulation of a child under 10 years old.
The defendant was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge O.G. Magno, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for July 22 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback, detectives from the SACA unit were contacted March 18 regarding suspicions that Diaz, who has helped manage Diaz Family Daycare in the 5000 block of Monte Carlo Court for three decades, had sexually molested as many as eight children.
The ensuing investigation confirmed three alleged victims. All of the girls were under 10 at the time of the alleged assaults, which occurred between early 2016 and last February, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The specific circumstances behind the alleged acts were not disclosed.
After detectives questioned the defendant, he was taken into custody without incident at a property on Canyon Estates Court, in the Canyon Crest area of Riverside.
It was unclear whether the California Department of Social Services is conducting a separate investigation into operations at Diaz Family Daycare.
The defendant has no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.