A man accused of arranging a meeting with a Woodcrest girl, then holding her against her will and sexually assaulting her, was charged Friday with forcible lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.
Cesar Diaz, 22, was arrested Wednesday following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Along with the lewd acts count, Diaz is charged with sentence-enhancing allegations of kidnapping a victim for the purpose of committing a sexual assault and bodily injury to a minor.
He entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment before Superior Court Judge Helios Hernandez, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 23 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and ordered that the defendant be held without bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff's Sgt. Curt Harris, the victim allegedly met Diaz via a social networking site and engaged in an undisclosed number of conversations with him. The girl, whose identity was not released, agreed to a rendezvous with the defendant on Tuesday, Harris said.
During the encounter, Diaz allegedly forced himself on the victim, who reported what happened to her parents, prompting them to contact the sheriff's department, according to Harris.
He said detectives procured evidence related to the alleged assault and arrested the defendant without incident at his residence on Timberview Drive in Riverside.
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Diaz has no prior documented felony convictions.
