Man Is Arrested in Molestation Case

A Rancho San Diego man has been arrested in connection with 18 counts of child molestation, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said Monday.

Deputies arrested John Joseph Richardson at about noon Saturday. He was booked at the County Jail downtown and held in lieu of $380,000 bail.

Richardson allegedly molested his step-granddaughter and several other neighborhood girls--all from 7 to 9 years old--in his home within a three- to four-week period, sheriff's Sgt. Bill Southwell, a child-abuse investigator, said.