Peninsula Child Sexual Assault Suspect Arrested

SAN MATEO, CA — A registered sex offender was arrested in San Mateo Wednesday on suspicion of multiple sexual assault charges involving a child, police said.

Ignacio Rosendo Martinez, a 46-year-old homeless man, was arrested in connection with an alleged incident involving a 10-year-old.

Officers were dispatched to Mas Wash and Dry Laundromat at 364 N Ellsworth Avenue at around 11:10 a.m. after receiving a report of an indecent exposure incident that occurred 30 minutes earlier.

Martinez ran away and was located hiding in an apartment complex boiler room a few blocks away, police said. He was arrested at around 2 p.m.

Officers learned that a pair of sisters, 10 and 12-years-old, rode their bicycles to the laundromat. As the older sister was locking up both bikes, the 10-year-old walked into the laundromat to exchange coins.

Police said Martinez walked up behind the girl, pulled down his pants, and bear-hugged the child while thrusting his pelvis onto her for about 25 seconds.

The suspect attempted to pull the child into a back room but she escaped his tight grip and ran crying to her sister outside, police said.

The children raced home and told their mom who immediately called police.

Video security footage obtained by the officers confirmed the incident and helped officers identify the suspect from previous contacts, police said.

Officers did not immediately locate the suspect until around 2 p.m., when they were called to an apartment complex in the 200 block of Elm Street regarding a homeless man trespassing on the premise.

Once on scene, officers located the trespasser in a boiler room and identified him as the same person pictured in the video footage obtained during the sexual assault investigation.

The alleged victim was contacted and later positively identified Martinez as the suspect.

Martinez was arrested and transported to San Mateo County Jail. He was booked on a multiple sexual assault charges including attempted rape, attempted kidnapping, willful cruelty to a child and failure to register as a sex offender, police said.

According to http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/, Ignacio Martinez is listed as a high-risk sex offender, police said.

Police said their investigation into this case is ongoing.

Anyone with information about this case or knows of anyone who may have been victimized by Martinez is asked to contact the San MateoPolice Department at (650) 522-7700.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to http://tinyurl.com/SMPDTips or by calling (650) 522-7676.