Child Molestation Los Angeles County

As many as 125 investigators had worked on the case, checking over 1,700 leads but coming up empty in their frustrating search for the man whose abductions and sexual assaults on young schoolgirls terrified several South Bay communities two years ago. On Thursday, law enforcement officials announced that they believe they have found their man--in a cell in Men's Central Jail.

Walter David Tallmadge, heir to the Schlitz beer fortune, was found guilty in Santa Monica Superior Court Tuesday of 15 counts of sexually assaulting two children--his daughter and a friend of the family, now 19--between 1989 and 1994. Tallmadge, 65, the great-grandson of former Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. President Henry Uihlein, has been incarcerated in Los Angeles County Jail since 1995. He was tried in the case in October 1996, but the jury could not reach a verdict.

Relatives of a Palmdale man convicted of sexually molesting and killing his 17-month-old godchild tearfully pleaded with a San Fernando Superior Court jury Monday to spare the man from a death sentence. "Don't kill him," begged Barbara Nusbaum, the aunt of Ricky Lee Earp, 29. "I can't imagine not having him around." Earp's mother, Helene Perusse, broke down on the witness stand before tearfully asking the jury not to recommend sentencing her son to death because "I love him" and "I need him."

Gerald Davis, a veteran Los Angeles County social worker arrested last week for allegedly molesting children, had argued publicly in the past year that his agency was too quick to condemn sexual acts involving youngsters, according to letters released Monday by the County Commission for Children's Services.

Ending months of speculation, prosecutors announced Wednesday that they have closed their child molestation investigation of entertainer Michael Jackson, but said the inquiry uncovered two more possible victims and stressed that authorities are prepared to reopen the case if any of the children decide they are willing to testify.

Criminal misdemeanor charges have been filed against the manager of the Angels Gate Youth Hostel for allegedly engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy, the Los Angeles city attorney's office said Tuesday. Daniel Pizac, 34, was charged Feb. 5 with two counts of oral copulation with a minor and one count of sodomy with a minor, city officials said.

A veteran Compton police sergeant has been arrested on suspicion of attempted child molestation, the Los Angeles Police Department said Thursday. Jeffrey Nussbaum, 44, was arrested Wednesday at a South Pasadena restaurant where he had arranged a meeting with a woman and her daughter after expressing sexual interest in children, investigators said. Nussbaum reportedly had set up the meeting through the Internet.

Prosecutors filed eight felony charges Thursday against a Simi Valley man accused of molesting at least five girls enrolled in his wife's home day-care center. Kenyon Niedert, 63, appeared briefly in a Ventura courtroom but an arraignment was postponed after a public defender asked for more time. A prosecutor said the charges filed Thursday involve five girls but suggested additional victims may emerge as investigators continue to interview children who attended the facility.

At the request of the defense attorney, a judge Thursday postponed a preliminary hearing for the Burbank school fund-raiser charged with having sex with a high school football player. Municipal Judge Rand Rubin delayed the preliminary hearing until Feb. 22 for Salle Dumm, the 50-year-old president of the Burbank Educational Foundation, who police say promised the 17-year-old money for his team if he returned to her bed the night after their first encounter.

Police on Tuesday warned San Gabriel Valley residents to be on the lookout for a man who they believe has tried to lure young boys into a van three times in the past two months in West Covina. On Monday about 3 p.m. a man abducted an 11-year-old boy in the 800 block of West Merced Avenue after luring the child to his van by asking directions to a skating rink, police said. The youth escaped from the van when the man stopped in a nearby alley.