The Antelope Valley Times

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Man charged in sexual assault of girl walking to school

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Booking photo from Dec. 27 courtesy Greenville County Jail.

LANCASTER – A 30-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on Dec. 13 has been charged with six felony counts, authorities said.

Charles Delshawn James is charged with two counts of kidnapping to commit another crime, one count of sexual penetration by foreign object, one count of sodomy by use of force, one count of committing a lewd act upon a child, and one count of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

Detectives presented the case to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday (Dec. 26), charges were filed that day, and a warrant was issued for the James’ arrest, according to the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau.

That same day, the Special Victims Bureau released a photo of James to the media. Hours later, James was located in Greenville, South Carolina.

“It appears that he was there for the holidays visiting relatives,” said Special Victims Bureau Sgt. Brian Hudson.

“A relative of his, who is here in Antelope Valley, saw the news coverage and notified him. And he, in turn, reached out to our detectives last night (Dec. 26),” Hudson continued. “During that conversation with him, we were able to gather enough information to narrow where he was in Greenville, South Carolina. Detectives went ahead and contacted the local law enforcement agency there, and they went and arrested him without incident on our behalf.”

James was arrested early Thursday morning (Dec. 27). Hudson said detectives used several “investigative tools” to identify James as a suspect in the sexual assault.

“How we fully came to identify him, I’m not going to get into specifics right now, but we are very comfortable that we have identified the right suspect in this case,” Hudson said.

James has a prior criminal history that includes drug usage and property theft crimes, but nothing involving sex crimes, Hudson said. At this point, the sexual assault on Dec. 13 appears to have been a “random attack,” Hudson said.

“But we still need to speak with Mr. James to get more information,” Hudson added. “Detectives are making arrangements right now to fly to South Carolina to actually take custody of Mr. James and also to attempt to interview him regarding this case.”

James is accused of following and then sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl around 6:15 a.m. on Dec. 13 in Lancaster.

The girl told detectives she was walking to school in the 2000 Block of East Avenue J-8 when she noticed a man walking behind her. Believing that she was being following, the girl crossed the street; but the suspect also crossed the street and was getting closer to her.

The suspect grabbed the girl, dragged her into some bushes, and then repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl, sheriff’s officials said.

Once he ended the assault, the suspect fled the location.

The girl was able to get to a local residence and contact the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station for help. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Anyone with additional information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-5273 or SpecialVictims@lasd.org. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Local detectives will be flying to South Carolina, within the next 10 days, to take custody of James and bring him back to the Antelope Valley to start the court process, Hudson said.

Once in local custody, James will be held on $2.3 million bail, Hudson said.

Related articles:

Officials ID suspect in sexual assault of girl walking to school

Girl sexually assaulted walking to school in Lancaster

UPDATED 1/8/2013: Charles James was extradited back to California and reportedly pleaded not guilty to all charges in an Antelope Valley courtroom on Monday (Jan. 7). A preliminary hearing on the case is set for Thursday, Jan 17., where a judge will decide if there is enough evidence against James to take the case to trial.

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

36 comments for "Man charged in sexual assault of girl walking to school"

  1. so not only is michelle egberts an “expert” wanting to educate the public on sex offenders, she also stalks public officials on the golf course and takes pictures of them “urinating” (supposedly) in public?? and you also have a criminal past? i thought the name sounded familiar..seems like i remember that the city council doesn’t want or need your “expertise”..you can spew all your support of these sex offenders but if you interviewed all citizens in the AV, i would bet 99% would not want these people around. damage is done to the victims that they will carry for life, at no fault of their own.. and we are supposed to accept these people? wrong!

    • @mrs aa… Mayor Parris and City Council should have listened to FACTS which I and others presented to them in regards to their Sex Offender Ordinance, but they elected not to and now they have been sued. They also caused Criminal Justice Commissioner/AV Parole Complex Parole Agent Jim Gaupel to lose his job.

      I also exercised my sixth amendment rights to go to trial after law enforcement, Mayor Parris and Public Safety Manager tried to silence me by falsely accusing me of crimes that NEVER happened, is that right for an elected official to do? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNhgChEQsLs

      As for the children of our community, I will use every power in me to protect them from the predators they should truly be aware of that lurk close to them and who they know and trust. Truth hurts. FYI, maybe male golfers should have more consideration for the others when they choose to urinate in public and know the dangers of such.

      • Listen up folks, you all need to check out this testimonial by Ms E for her attorney, just so you know what she looks like.

  3. We generally teach children about “stranger danger” from an early age, telling them not to talk to, walk with or take gifts or candy from strangers, but statistics show danger often lurks closer to home. This may seem hard to do, but it’s the best way to protect a child.

    As parents, grandparents and educators we can protect a child from sexual abuse/assault by talking frankly to them about abuse, starting at a young age with age-appropriate information. http://www.csom.org/train/educating/one/files/parent_book_list.pdf

    Keep the dislikes coming as I anticipate them, but when your child or relative becomes a victim of sexual abuse or sexual assault, don’t use the excuse that you didn’t know as all I’m trying to do is EDUCATE!

  4. ahhh i can see you are a champion for these offenders.. doesnt matter if they are repeat or new.. how many of them across the country have murdered their innocent victims? how many of them are out on the streets now, that are repeat offenders? if one of them molested your son or daughter, would you still feel so sympathic to them? pretty obvious what your answer would be!
    i think the city can handle a lawsuit..they are out to protect the majority of law abiding people, not the dregs of society..

    • @ Mrs aa… KNOWLEDGE is POWER when it comes to sex offenders. I realize you and others think I’m defending/protecting sex offenders, when in all reality I’m enhancing community safety by educating our Mayor, City Council and citizens in regards to the TRUTH about sex offenders and the difference between a sexual violent predator (svp). Most sexual offenses are committed by someone the victim KNOWS— either a family member, friend, intimate partner, or acquaintance. About 27% of offenders are strangers. 12 -24% of sex offenders will reoffend with non-sex crimes, but only 1.9% for new sex crimes.

      Our organization, AV-East Kern Second Chance is doing a great public safety service by helping offenders deal with challenges following release from prison or local custody, including sex offenders. When reentering the community, offenders face many challenges that can cause their lives to be unstable. This instability can put them at greater risk to reoffend; therefore, working with offenders to deal with these challenges is crucial to their ability to live crime-free lives. Such challenges offenders face are; negative public feelings, including being ostracized or the victims of hostile acts; restrictions on where they can live; and difficulties finding a job to name a few. Being employed is important for offenders, especially sex offenders because not having a job is associated with reoffending.

      Richard Macias, Director, AV-East Kern Second Chance is a retired 25-year California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation Peace Officer (Lieutenant/Parole Agent) retired, who extends additional supervision to our clients on parole/or probation beyond the scope of the agents assigned to supervise these individuals, adding further protection to our community’s safety.

      Now, beware of the media’s ability to sensationalize the most horrific of stories concerning the sexual assault of children or adults. These stories, while real and very frightening, are NOT the norm.

      • Nobody wants these sex offenders around, they do not deserve a second chance. Do you let these sex offenders watch your kids Eggbert?

  5. SO GLAD THEY GOT THIS JACKA$$! PRAYING ON KIDS,,, WELL IM SURE YOU’LL GET WHAT’S COMING TO YOU IN PRISON!!! IM SURE YOU’LL MAKE A GOOD GIRLFRIEND IN PRISON!!! LMAO!!! AS FOR KIDS HAVING TO WALK SO EARLY, MOST PARENTS HAVE TO WORK AN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE MOST PART THEY DON’T PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION!!! TRUST ME THEY DON’T CUSS IM ONE OFF THOSE PARENTS WHO TAKES MY KIDS TO SCHOOL WHEN IM NOT WORKING!!!! ONLY ONE TO BLAME HERE IS THE CRYING ACTIVIST WHO FOUGHT AGAINST THE CITY OF LANCOMPTON FOR ALLOWING ALL THESE GOVERMENT LOW INCOME PROGRAMS!!!! OUR MAYOR DID TRY TO FIGHT BACK BUT LOST!!!! LETS BLAME THE CITY OF LA FOR THROWING ALL THE BS OUT HERE IN THE AV!! 

  6. Can the School answer why so early and unprotected?

    ARE YOU SERIOUS? THE SCHOOL SHOULD NOT BE TAKING CARE OF OUR CHILDREN!!! IT IS UP TO THE PARENT(S) FOR THIS. NO I AM NOT A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER…IN FACT THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED SCHOOLS HAVE ENOUGH CONTROL OF OUR FAMILIES!THE GOEVERNMENT FUNDED FACILITIES ARE ALREADY PURSUING CONTROL OVER FAMILY CHOICES, BELEIEFS, AND PRIVACY. I HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE, THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE, THE ISSUE IS ENOUGH INTERFERENCE ON MORALS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT IN EDUCATION, ALONG WITH RIGHTS, YES SAFETY IS A TOP PRIORITY, ESCPECIALLY AFTER SANDY BROOK, SAFETY IS REQUIRED BY LAW FOR ANY SCHOOL; HOWEVER SAFETY OF YOUR OWN PERSON, CHILDREN, SPOUSE, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS, A GIVEN, CONSIDERING THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE.WE ARE TO KEEP OUR OWN SAFE, PER OUR AMERICAN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION WHICH WAS BASED UPON THE BIBLE. NO I AM NOT A RADICAL, FANATIC, I JUST KNOW MY GOD, HISTORY AND MORAL,LEGAL, AND POLITICAL LAWS. SO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO COMMENT AGAINST WHAT I AM SAYING BY BRINGING PERSAONAL ISSUES, PLEASE SAVE IT, THIS IS FACTUAL, HISTORICAL,OBJECTIVE AND POLITICAL. IT SHOULD NOT BE UP TO A SCHOOL TO BE OUT POLICING THE STREETS BECAUSE AMERICA HAS REQUESTED GOVERNMENT SOCIALISM! BTW GUN CONTROL IS ABSURD, GUNS ARE TOOLS AND SHOULD NOT BE BANNED, THIS WOULD UNARM ANY LAW ABIDING CITIZEN WILLING TO KEEP HIS OR HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS SAFE!

    • NOT RADICAL NOT FANATIC? WHATSUP WITH THE CAPS?
      Perhaps the schools can adjust start times so that kids don’t need to be on the street at the crack of dawn.Since parents must by law send their kids to school it is incumbent upon the school to provide safety.

  7. Help me understand why a very young girl is walking to SCHOOL at 6:00 in the morning ALONE? Can the School answer why so early and unprotected…..how about the parents allowing this to happen? We need to look in our own families for prevention….law enforcement can not be EVERYWHERE even if there was a healthier budget for more street patrol. So sad for this young lady.

    • I used to live near J-8 and 20th St East. I had two young children at the time so we moved because that area was getting too “seedy” and we didn’t want our children to be raised there. I can’t understand how this young girls’ parents or parent could allow her to walk alone. Sad.

      • You’re blaming the wrong person, could be working single parent.
        Perhaps school needs to open laterif kids need to walk in the dark to make their first class since A.V. is now jam packed with miscreants.

  8. he was a good father and a good man they have the wrong person and while they wasting time with him the real person still out there getting away with it i been knowing him for years and never done nothing like this are made me think funny about him he have kids lil girls if any thing he would have help her yall dont know him just to let yall know the real person still out there so watch your kids dont let the cop full you ….. Dont be next they just wasting tax payers money
    i love you bro i am praying that you come home and the find the punk who REALLY did THIS……

  9. Disgusting.. I hope he is punished to the full extent of the law. I can’t post what I would really like to see happen. I am so sick of sex offenders just getting a slap on the wrist!

  10. Just two months ago the Lancaster City Council passed the most restrictive presence prohibitions against people required to register as sex offenders in the state. With most certainty that ordinance will get challenged in a court of law and will cost the City a bundle.

    Well, the much publicized ordinance did not help this unfortunate victim. What might have helped prevent (pre-vent) this crime might have been allocating those resources to additional foot patrols on the street. Given that the likelihood of a repeat (sex) offender committing a crime in the areas covered by the ordinance is astronomically small one cannot help but wonder what the real motivations of the City Council really were. Crime prevention and the well-being of Lancaster residents and its children, or their own political agenda and legacy?

    That ship, of course, has sailed with the ‘Eye in the Sky’.

    • @ Bob… The City of Lancaster has been sued for the Sex offender Ordinance http://californiarsol.org/2012/12/california-rsol-challenges-lancaster-sex-offender-ordinance-in-federal-court/

      It is my hope that Mayor Parris and the City Council will repeal its Ordinance at the next City Council meeting on January 8th. Repealing this Ordinance would be whats in the “best interest” of the city and public safety and it was based on false statistics and instilling fear.

      • Yes you are right these ordinaces should be repealed, instead lets just excecute these rapists and child molesters.

        • @ Frank Rizzo… Your comments remind me to pack my camera in my golf bag and snap pictures of all our law abiding “pillars” of Lancaster who choose to urinate next to their golf carts for urinating in public/indecent exposure and have them placed on the sex offender registry! Maybe you’d want to cut their genitals off… hahahahaha

      • “best interest” sounds like a threat to me….. the best interest is to protect the people from all these twisted, sicko sex offenders.. who wants to mingle with them? oh i know, it wasn’t their fault..someone made them do it….OH PLEASE!!

        • @mrs.aa… Yes, Mayor Parris and City Council were threatened on both August 28th and September 11th that if they were to adopt the Sex Offender Ordinance as written, they would be sued. They adopted it, and on December 18th the City Clerk was served with the lawsuit.

          And yes, the Mayor and City Council repealing the Sex Offender Ordinance is whats in the “best interest” of the city, twist it into a threat as you see fit. If they don’t repeal it, it’s that simple, we go to court and let a judge and jury decide.

          It is noteworthy that recidivism rates for sex offenders are lower than for the general criminal population, a 1.9% chance of a sex offender committing a new sex crime. Mrs. aa, show me one registered sex offender in the Antelope Valley who has been responsible for any of the latest rapes and molestations… NONE. They are all NEW sexual predators.

          • Some of the public speakers at those city vouncil meetings advised that they intended to file a legal challenge in a court of law should the ordinance pass. Hardly a threat – merely public participation in the democratic process. Now that the ordinance is on the books they are simply doing what they calmly stated they would be doing (petitioning the government), as is any citizen’s rights. Whether we like them or not is entirely immaterial.

          • @Egberts: Is there ANY criminal or crime that is too low for you to stoop down and defend? Being a several time convicted felon yourself, apparently not. For you to come on this site like you’re an expert on anything but how to commit felonies,and try to school the rest of us, is just a joke. Like someone said on another story on this site, gtf away!

          • @Captain Obvious… its about civil rights and prisoner reentry. AV-East Kern Second Chance sees active participation in ALL its forms- voting, advocacy, community engagement and more as another way to IMPROVE prisoner reentry, outcomes and reducing the 70% recidivism rate. This is about TRANSPARARENCY AND THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT PRISONER REENTRY AND THE CIVIL BARRIERS WE FACE, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT DESPITE OUR CRIMINAL PASTS (WHICH WE HAVE PAID OUR DEBT TO SOCIETY FOR) WE HAVE CIVIL RIGHTS AND WON’T BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

            IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT THEN DON’T HAVE A MAYOR/CITY COUNCIL THAT FEEL THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW AND CAN ADOPT ORDINANCES THAT VIOLATE CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE CONSTITUTION. SIMPLE.

            AND FURTHERMORE… A CRIMINAL HAS THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL AND IS SUPPOSED TO BE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. HOWEVER, IN THIS FORUM YOU AND THE MAJORITY HAVE EVERY ALLEGED CRIMINAL CONVICTED BEFORE THEY EVEN HAVE THEIR INITIAL APPEARANCE IN COURT.

            YOU AND OTHERS ON THIS SITE KEEP BEINGING UP MY CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS JUST DEMONSTRATING HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO REENTER SOCIETY. I HAVE A VOICE UNLIKE YOU AND I USE IT BEFORE THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL AND SPEAK UP. REMEMBER, THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD.

          • @ Egbert, like it or not you criminals will allways be discriminated against. No one wants to be around child molesters. You think you have paid for your crimes by doing time in a prison, think again.

          • @ Captain Obvious, you are bring up Michelles’s past as a reason for her not to express her opinions, ( I don’t agree with most of them) when the Mayor of Lancaster has himself has a criminal past and is an admited drug addict? REALY??

  12. And they want to take away peoples firearms… how are we supposed to protect ourselves from scum like these in the event the Sheriff’s don’t respond on time? This one is for all anti-gun activists to answer.

  13. bastard! looks like that may be the last vacation you take for a long time.. enjoy prison! looks like you’ve been there a few times tho..another loser off the AV streets..