A Santa Barbara man was arrested for allegedly molesting two 5-year-old children he was babysitting, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Officers Josh Morton and Adrian Gutierrez responded to a child-molestation call Tuesday on the Westside, and later arrested Carlos Israel Xitumul-Pineda, 36, Sgt. Riley Harwood said.
Xitumul-Pineda is a family friend who babysits the two children when their regular babysitters are unavailable, and was doing so on Tuesday afternoon when the mother returned home, Harwood said.
The mother found the front door locked and blinds closed, which she found unusual, he said.
She went inside and found Xitumul-Pineda and the children in “states of partial undress,” police said.
“When she questioned the children about what had taken place with Xitumul-Pineda that afternoon, she realized that they had been molested,” Harwood said.
The father returned home moments later and they confronted Xitumul-Pineda, telling him they were going to call police, and he then left the residence.
Officers arrested Xitumul-Pineda outside his own home on suspicion of intercourse or sodomy with a child age 10 years or younger by a person 18 years of age or older; sodomy against a victim’s will by force, violence, duress, menace or fear to a victim under 14 years of age; and committing a lewd act upon a child under 14 years of age.
Crimes Against Persons detectives are assisting with the follow-up investigation and conducted forensic medical examinations and child forensic interviews with the victims.
When interviewed, Xitumul-Pineda admitted to molesting the victims on multiple occasions over the course of five months, Harwood said.
He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $250,000.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.