INDIO – After a report that a girl was molested in Coachella, and intensive investigation let authorities to a suspect who was arrested.
The Coachella Police Department received a call on Monday, January 18, 2016, at 1:05 p.m., regarding a child molestation which was reported to have occurred within the 84000 block of Bagdad Avenue in Coachella.
Officers arrived on the scene and spoke to the victim, a female juvenile. The girl reported that she had been playing outside near her home when she was approached by a stranger who touched her inappropriately. She described the suspect as a heavy-set white male adult.
Investigators from the Riverside Sheriff’s Department out of the Thermal Station took on the investigation with assistance from Indio Police Department. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Department, a lengthy investigation identified 56-year-old Indio resident Ricky Lee Strand as the suspect involved in this incident.
Investigators authored and served a search warrant at a residence in the 82-700 block of Castleton Drive, in the city of Indio. On January 20, Strand was arrested and booked into the Riverside County Jail, located in the city of Indio for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years, penetration by a foreign object, and child molestation by force.
Strand’s bail is currently set at one million dollars.
Parents and or family members are encouraged to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious persons immediately to their local law enforcement agency.
