Avalon Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested an Avalon man last week for sexually abusing female children. Authorities accused the man of meeting and abusing four known victims during a 10-year period starting in 2013.
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the suspect knew the victims.
aThe arrest came 72 hours after the initial complaint was reported by a family member of one of the girls, according to Capt. Douglas Fetteroll, commander of the Avalon Sheriff’s Station.
Avalon Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested an Avalon man last week for sexually abusing female children. Authorities accused the man of meeting and abusing four known victims during a 10-year period starting in 2013.
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the suspect knew the victims.
aThe arrest came 72 hours after the initial complaint was reported by a family member of one of the girls, according to Capt. Douglas Fetteroll, commander of the Avalon Sheriff’s Station.
The four known victims are now between 3 and 21 years old.
Arthur Milton Peguero, 41, was arrested Thursday, Dec. 19, on a warrant for felony “Lewd and Lascivious Act with a Child” and misdemeanor “Annoying a Minor.”
Fetteroll said that “misdemeanors crimes against children are any act, sexual in nature, that the public would find offensive that doesn’t involve touching.”
Bail for Peguero, a waiter, has been set at $350,000. The alleged crimes took place on Catalina Island over a 10-year period beginning in 2003.
Detectives are asking witnesses or other victims to call the Special Victims Bureau at (877) 710-5273 or email SpecialVictims@lasd.org. Capt. Fetteroll said Peguero is a male Hispanic, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 190 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Fetteroll offered parents suggestions for protecting their children.
“My advice to parents is; 1) always know where your children are, 2) be on the lookout for behaviors that seem suspicious, 3) have regular age appropriate talks with your children regarding this topic, 4) make sure your children know they can tell you anything, even if they are afraid, and 5) rehearse ‘what if’ scenarios with your children, so they know what to do if an adult makes them feel uncomfortable,” Fetteroll said.
“Fortunately, allegations of this type are rare on Catalina Island and this community remains as one of the safest in Los Angeles County. The Sheriff’s Department takes these allegations very seriously. In this case within 72 hours of receiving the initial report, the suspect was taken into custody,” Fetteroll said.
The Avalon Sheriff’s Station commander also said there was no indication of a connection between Peguero’s job and the children he is accused of abusing.
While the media tends to emphasize “stranger danger,” it is a statistically reality that most of those individuals accused of sexually abusing children are not strangers at all.
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network—an advocacy group for victims—there are approximately 237,868 sexual assault victims in the United States Each Year. According to RAINN, 80 percent of those victms are under 18.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice. 2005 National Crime Victimization Study, two-thirds of the perpetrators of sexual assaults are someone the victim knows.
