Man accused of sexually abusing juvenile in Thousand Palms

A Morongo Valley man was arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a runaway juvenile.

According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, on March 28, deputies from the Palm Desert station were notified of a runaway juvenile located in Thousand Palms.

The juvenile was under the age of 14.

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force responded to the incident and assumed the investigation.

RCAHT Task Force investigators learned that a man, later identified as Elogio Arredondo, 40 of Morongo Valley, was sexually abusing the juvenile.

Before deputies had arrived at the scene, Arredondo fled the area, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Arredondo was arrested on Saturday, April 11, in Bell Gardens, near Los Angeles.

Arredondo was released to RCAHT Task Force and transported to Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. He was booked for lewd or lascivious acts with a child and is being held on $250,000.

The Riverside County Sheriff Department is asking anyone with additional information to contact RCAHT Task Force Investigator Julio Oseguera at (760) 836-1600 or call anonymously at (760) 341-STOP (7867) and reference incident #R200910003.