FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — A man accused of approaching a 12-year-old girl on her way to school in Fresno on Thursday has been arrested on multiple felony charges, according to the Fresno Police Department.
Officers responded to West Weldon Avenue and North Channing Way after a report of an adult man attempting to speak to a 12-year-old girl.
Officers and Sexual Assault Unit detectives interviewed the girl, who said she was walking to school when a Hispanic man in a navy-blue van pulled up alongside her.
She said the man spoke to her in Spanish, which she did not understand.
The man then positioned his vehicle in the girl’s path, pointed at his cell phone, and waved her over.
Police said the girl, fearing for her safety, walked over to him and handed him her phone.
She said the man entered his phone number into her cell phone and told her he would return at 4 p.m. to pick her up.
Before driving off, police said, the man blew the girl a kiss.
The girl walked safely to school and reported the incident to school officials and police.
Detectives searched the neighborhood for surveillance footage and eyewitnesses and recovered the girl’s phone for forensic analysis.
After an investigation and analysis of law enforcement databases, and with assistance from the Internet Crimes Against Children team, detectives identified and located the suspect as 27-year-old Elias Panzo Temoxtle.
He was arrested by the ICAC team on several felony charges, including distributing or showing pornography to a minor, annoying a child under 18, and false imprisonment.
He was booked into the Fresno County Jail.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Fresno Police Department at (559) 621-7000.