Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives, investigating the sexual assault of a minor, have arrested Charles Paul Fernandez, 42, a registered sex offender.
Fernandez, who was detained Aug. 6 at his home in Ridgecrest, faces a charge of aggravated sexual assault against a minor child. He is in custody at the Santa Barbara County Jail and held in lieu of no bail.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, Criminal Investigations Division received information that from 2000-03, a minor child had been sexually assaulted for several years in the Santa Maria area. During that time period, the victim was age 7 to 10. Also during that time, Fernandez was dating the victim’s mother.
In 2005, Fernandez was convicted of sexual assault with an unrelated minor child and ordered to register as a sex offender in Kern County.
In the past, Fernandez has been known to live in Clear Lake, Texas, Phoenix and Ridgecrest. It is believed that Fernandez had relationships with single mothers in these cities.
Anyone with information about Fernandez asked to call the Santa Barbara County sheriff’s office at 805.934.6171.
Sgt. Alex Tipolt is a public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.