RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A registered sex offender was tracked down and arrested after he attempted to sexually assault a 10-year-old girl inside a restroom at an elementary school Friday, police said.
Officers with the Riverside Police Department were dispatched to McAuliffe Elementary School around 12:30 p.m. Friday after receiving a report that a man had jumped the school fence after being inside the girls’ restroom, KTLA reported.
“A campus supervisor observed this man, later identified as Logan Nighswonger, come out of the restroom and heard a girl crying inside,” police said in a news release. “The campus supervisor followed Nighswonger as he jumped other fences to the parking lot and get inside a vehicle. He was then able to provide a detailed vehicle description and license plate as the suspect drove away.”
Law enforcement authorities did not specify how Nighswonger, 32, entered the school.
Police were able to locate the vehicle at a business in the city of Placentia, located in Orange County, where they found the suspect and made the arrest, according to KTLA.
Nighswonger was booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center for attempted sex acts with a child under the age of 10 and being a registered sex offender on school grounds.
“Children should never experience a situation such as this and it deeply saddens me that this incident occurred,” Alvord Unified School District Superintendent Allan Mucerino said in a statement. “It gives us pause and reinforces our commitment to school safety in recognition that even when we follow safety best practices and do everything in our power to secure our campuses there continues to be threats, which we will continue to work tirelessly to mitigate.”
