SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco police on Friday announced the arrest of a 19-year-old following the sexual assault of a young soccer player in Golden Gate Park, thanks to a tip from a parent.Â
The assault, in the bathrooms by the polo field, occurred on Oct. 23.Â
Yep said that after the tip, and surveillance of the suspect, police were able to arrest Dominick Jeremiah Valle-Buitrago in Pleasant Hill, which seemed to rely in part on DNA.Â
Police wouldn’t disclose what the tip was, but said it broke the case. Police credited very alert soccer parents for noticing something that detectives acted on.Â
 Valle-Buitrago was booked on felony charges of kidnapping, sexual battery, false imprisonment and child molestation.Â
“This case was an extremely high priority for us,” San Francisco Police Chief Paul Yep said at a news conference. “Our crime lab expedited the processing of DNA evidence and other evidence.”Â
It was not immediately clear if the 19-year-old had an attorney. He is being held on no bail. As of Friday, he had not been charged.Â
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said she now has to review the evidence more closely and will make a decision on Monday. An arraignment is now scheduled for Tuesday.Â
“I know what this has done and how this has rocked the parent community, the soccer community across our city,” Jenkins said, adding that her 9-year-old daughter has also played soccer at Golden Gate Park.Â
The Recreation and Park Department put a park ranger near the restrooms between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, when youth teams typically practice, and installed a new security camera.Â
Mayor Daniel Lurie said public safety is his top priority and his heart went out to the child and their family “during this painful time.”
“San Francisco does not tolerate acts of violence,” he said.
He noted that for so many, Golden Gate Park is a place of joy, and that every family deserves that sense of joy.Â
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