Convicted rapist charged for sexual assault of minors in Murrieta
A convicted rapist accused of sexually assaulting two sisters in the Murrieta area was charged today with multiple counts of forcible rape and child molestation.
Michael James Camilleri, 42, of Winchester was arrested Wednesday night following a Riverside County sheriff’s investigation that identified the two alleged victims, neither of whom were identified.
The criminal complaint filed against Camilleri lists three counts of rape, 11 counts of lewd acts on a child or forced penetration of a child and one count of violating sex registrant parole terms, with numerous sentence-enhancing allegations of preying on multiple victims.
The defendant was being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and was slated to make his initial court appearance this afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center.
According to sheriff’s officials, a woman called deputies Wednesday alleging that her ex-boyfriend — Camilleri — had molested her pre-teen daughter on several occasions in the preceding two years.
The woman, who was not identified, alleged that the assaults occurred while she resided in the 31000 block of Jan Steen Court in French Valley.
While detectives were gathering information, the victim’s sister — now 23 years old — alleged that she, too, had been sexually assaulted by the defendant during encounters with him at a Murrieta residence several years earlier, according to the sheriff’s department.
Detectives tracked the 6-foot, 250-pound convicted felon to a business at the intersection of Cement Plant Road and Rancho Avenue in Colton, where he was questioned and taken into custody without a struggle.
According to court records, Camilleri has a 1997 conviction for sexual assault on a minor, for which he served two years in state prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Under California Penal Code section 290, sex registrants are required to keep a current address on file with law enforcement and notify authorities whenever they relocate. They’re also generally prohibited from loitering where children gather and working in jobs in which they have routine contact with minors.
More: I-Team and Stands for You investigations
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