LQ man arrested on suspicion of felony child molestation
A La Quinta man is facing felony charges for allegedly molesting children at his wife’s home-based daycare center, which stopped operating more than a decade ago, authorities revealed Wednesday.
John Arledge, 56, is charged with three counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor for alleged incidents that occurred more than 10 years ago.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department launched an investigation upon receiving a report of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred at ABC Day Care in the 45000 block of Carrie Lane in 2006, the same year it stopped operating, said Sgt. Jessica Vanderhoof.
She said the sheriff’s investigation tunred up two additional alleged victims of sexual abuse at the daycare, which district attorney’s spokesman John Hall said wsa operated by Arledge’s wife out of the couple’s home.
On April 20, deputies served a search warrant at the Carrie Lane address and arrested Arledge, according to sheriff’s officials.
Arledge is being held at the Riverside County Jail in Indio on $2M bail. He pleaded not guilty to the charges last month and is due in court June 5 for a felony settlement conference.
Deputies said due to the ongoing investigation involving children, no further information will be released at this time.
The sheriff’s department encourages anyone with information regarding these incidents to contact Investigator Melissa Nieburger with the Thermal Sheriff’s Station at 760-863-8950.
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