HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. - A man who walked into a police station with a missing 5-year-old girl was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of kidnapping and various sex crimes.
The man, who police said has as many as 28 different aliases but identified himself as Juan Manuel, showed up at the Huntington Park Police Station on Thursday evening with a Maywood girl who'd disappeared from her mother's side the day before.
A massive search involving bloodhounds, infrared cameras, helicopters and nearly 100 law enforcement agents ended abruptly. The girl was reunited with her tearful mother, and Manuel gave an impromptu news conference for waiting reporters.
He said the girl appeared to be lost when he came upon her in the street. He said he walked around to businesses trying to determine where her mother was, but gave up and took her home for a meal and safeguarding.
Asked why he didn't immediately go to police, Manuel said, ''The fear was that kids get adapted nowadays ... They don't feel safe. She was already kind of lost and I didn't want her to go through those procedures.''
The girl wandered out of an insurance office in Huntington Park, just south of Los Angeles, around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday. Moments later her mother walked out after her but she was gone, according to Esther Viramontes, the agency's co-owner.
As soon as Manuel appeared on TV Thursday, calls came in from local law enforcement agencies that have had contact with him, said Huntington Police Sgt. Mike Craven.
Detectives determined that Manuel had an arrest record, though had apparently not served prison time. After interviewing him they arrested him early Friday. Craven could not specify what charges Manuel, 31, of Los Angeles would face, except that they include kidnapping and ''quite a few'' sex crimes. Craven was also unsure what Manuel's previous arrests were.
Asked whether police had determined why Manuel would risk arrest by bringing the girl directly to police, Craven said, ''If you know anything about sexual deviants, they're a different breed of individuals.''
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