A Perris foster parent accused of molesting two girls for nearly a decade may have abused other children, prompting authorities Friday to ask anyone with information to come forward.
Napoleon Cerda, 57, was arrested last month following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Cerda is charged with three counts of lewd acts on a minor, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 10 years old and one count of annoying a minor, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting more than one person in sex crimes.
He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment last week, after which Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 13 at the Riverside Hall of Justice, setting Cerda’s bail at $1 million.
The defendant is being held at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Fisher said in a statement Thursday that detectives “believe there may be additional victims” who haven’t contacted authorities, and anyone with details or further allegations was asked to reach out to the sheriff’s Perris station at 951-210-1000.
The recently filed charges against Cerda stem from a series of alleged encounters going back to 2017, according to court papers.
Fisher said the alleged molestations occurred during the period in which the defendant was a “foster father” of the two victims, whose identities were not disclosed. Cerda may have later formally adopted the youths, though details were unclear.
The specific circumstances behind the alleged assaults were not disclosed.
After gathering sufficient evidence based on the alleged victims’ statements, Cerda was taken into custody without incident in Murrieta on Feb. 27.
Court records indicated a prior felony conviction from 2023, but the offense wasn’t listed.