SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara Police arrested Jose Vazquez Prestegui, age 40, of Santa Barbara, for committing a lewd act upon a child under the age of 14 years, a felony.
On August 26, 2012 at 3:30 p.m., SBPD Officers Aaron Denbrook, Jared Hall, Nathan Beltran, and Sergeant Mike Lazarus responded to a call of a child molest investigation at an Eastside residence. Upon arrival they discovered that the suspect, Prestegui, had fled from the house. A short while later Officer Beltran located Prestegui on the 400 block of N. Voluntario Street.
Investigation indicates the following. The incident occurred at Prestegui's home, which is a residence occupied by several families. The victim is a five-year old girl who was visiting a friend who lives there. The victim wandered into Prestegui's living area during a game of hide-and-seek, and while there decided to watch television with him. While they were watching television Prestegui fondled one of the victim's intimate body parts through her clothing. Immediately after the incident the victim notified her 17-year old cousin, who was also at the residence, who subsequently informed other adults in the household. Prestegui was confronted by the one of the adults about the child's allegation and the police were called. Prestegui then fled the scene.
Prestegui was arrested and transported to SBPD where he was interviewed by Crimes Against Persons Detective Brian Larson. In a disturbing revelation Prestegui admitted to molesting the victim, stating that it was "like payback" for when he was molested as a child.
Prestegui was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on the aforementioned charge with a bail amount of $100,000.00.
