Napa Man Suspected Of Molesting Several Children: Police

NAPA, CA – Police now suspect that a Napa man arrested last week after he was allegedly caught masturbating in public view of children has molested several children over the course of several decades. Ronald Fryer, 57, was initially taken into custody Wednesday, April 25 after the Napa Police Department received reports of an unknown man watching children walk to school in the area of the 100 block of Oran Court, police said in a news release.

Napa police school resource officers and detectives identified the suspect as Fryer, an employee of a local towing company, who lives in the area, police said. Fryer was arrested without incident and booked into the Napa County jail on suspicion of indecent exposure.

"NPD does not believe he touched or molested the children," Napa police Lt. Brian Campagna said about the April 25 incident.

However, as police continued their investigation, which included serving a search warrant at Fryer's residence in the 100 block of Oran Court, they uncovered evidence indicating that over the course of several decades Fryer allegedly developed a pattern of illegal behavior that included molesting children, the lieutenant said.

"During the search warrant service, a large amount of child pornography was found," Campagna said. "We also developed information that led to the discovery of multiple victims of child molestation."

Police are still working on identifying additional victims and obtaining witness statements as they seek to confirm the number of alleged victims.

"At this time, the Napa Police Department believes all of the molestation victims were known to Mr. Fryer," Campagna said.

"He did not work in a professional capacity with children," Campagna told Patch.

Fryer is being held at the Napa County Department of Corrections on suspicion of multiple counts of indecent exposure, multiple counts of engaging in lewd conduct, multiple counts of lewd act upon a child, continuous molestation of a child and possession of child pornography, according to police.

Photos via Napa Police Department