Police arrest man suspected of sexually assaulting 5-year-old girl in Linda Vista home

Police have arrested a 22-year-old man suspected of slipping into a Linda Vista home last week and sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl who had been asleep, a police official said Monday.

Officers spotted the man, identified as Alejandro Jose Confesor, drinking a beer on Linda Vista Road north of Glidden Road, about 11:15 Sunday night, police Lt. Michael Swanson said. He said officers recognized him as the potential suspect in the assault on the child.

The initial incident happened about 1:45 a.m. Thursday. The man gained access to a home on Wellington Street through an unlocked door, assaulted the girl then left, police said. Swanson said the man was a “complete stranger” to the girl.

The residence, near Kearny High School, is Navy housing, but San Diego police are handling the investigation.

Three days later, about 3:25 a.m. Sunday, a man who looked like the suspect broke into the garage and side yard of the same home, but was not able to get inside the house. The victim’s parents discovered the intrusion when they woke up later that morning and reviewed overnight surveillance footage.

Police released security camera images from the Sunday incident later that day. Investigators couldn’t say for certain whether the man in the footage was the same person who assaulted the child, but they emphasized how closely he matched the assailant’s description.

Hours later, officers came across Confesor on Linda Vista Road, less than two miles from the Wellington Street home. Swanson said Confesor lives at a rental property nearby.

Confesor was arrested on suspicion of charges including lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 with force and assault with intent to commit rape or other sex acts during residential burglary.

Online jail records indicate Confesor is being held in lieu of at least $1 million bail, and that he might be arraigned Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court.

San Diego police are still investigating and asked that anyone with further information or with video surveillance during the time frame call the department’s Child Abuse Unit at (619) 531-2210.

Staff writer Caleb Lunetta contributed to this report.