A homeless man — armed with a knife and rope — is accused of molesting a six-year-old girl at random outside of a Montgomery County elementary school.
Around 10 a.m. on Friday, July 3, the girl and an unnamed caregiver were at Oak View Elementary School on East Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring. The two were picking berries and riding a bicycle. At one point, the caregiver lost sight of the little girl. Shortly after that, the girl ran back to the school and claimed a male stranger had "touched her in her private parts."
The caregiver spotted a man, later identified at Michael Mendez-Romero, 25, escaping towards a wood line behind the school. She dialed 911.
Montgomery County Police arrived, and within 15 minutes, located Mendez-Romero in the same wooded area, which backs to East Schuyler Road. Officers arrested him.
"A search... revealed a red-handled knife with a three-inch fixed blade and length of rope approximately seven-feet long in the defendant's possession," police wrote in court documents.
Investigators transported Mendez-Romero, plus the victim, and her caregiver, to the Special Victims Investigations Division in Rockville. While speaking with detectives, the six-year-old girl said Mendez-Romero, a total stranger, "digitally penetrated her [genitals] and [buttocks]." Staff at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville later performed a sexual assault exam on the girl.
Spanish-speaking officers questioned Mendez-Romero. The 5-foot-2, 110-pound man claimed the girl approached him and requested he "help her check for bugs."
"Mendez-Romero then advised that he did help Victim A check for bugs by pulling her 'short pants' away from her body and inserting his hand down her pants and 'brushed' his hand against her [genitals]," police further wrote in court documents. "He also stated that he 'checked' but did not touch Victim A's buttocks."
Investigators obtained a search and seizure warrant for Mendez-Romero's DNA, which they will likely compare to the evidence collected during the young victim's sexual assault exam.
According to court documents, Mendez-Romero was born in Guatemala, is unemployed and homeless. On Monday, Montgomery County District Court Judge Eric Nee ordered the accused child molester to be held without bond while awaiting trial.
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