A 31-year-old teacher’s aide from Norco suspected of molesting a child she met at a preschool and later babysat was released from custody Friday after posting a $55,000 bond.
Allyson Lynn Berndsen was arrested and booked Thursday into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on suspicion of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and furnishing a juvenile with marijuana. Berndsen posted bail Friday morning and was let out of jail.
According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Gutierrez, in early December, deputies were alerted to alleged illicit encounters involving the suspect and child, whose identity, including gender, was not disclosed.
Gutierrez alleged that Berndsen became acquainted with the youth while working as a teacher’s aide for the private Montessori School of Corona, though it was unclear whether the victim was an enrollee.
The suspect was alone with the child on an unspecified number of occasions because she provided “babysitting services for the victim,” Gutierrez said.
He said detectives’ month-long investigation resulted in sufficient evidence being obtained to justify an arrest warrant, which was served on Berndsen on Thursday morning at a location on Mission Boulevard in Jurupa Valley, where she was taken into custody without incident.
Her employment status following arrest was not immediately known, and no background information was available on the suspect.