Turlock man charged with sexually abusing two girls

A 63-year-old Turlock man appeared in court Friday for the first time on charges of sexually assaulting two young girls.

Turlock police began investigating Ebrahim Alfred Esmaeili last year when one of the alleged victims told a mandated reporter at her school that he sexually abused her in 2012, said Turlock police Officer Steve Rodrigues.

Through their investigation detectives learned of a second victim who was allegedly abused in 2015.

Rodrigues did not know the age of the victims but said both were under 14 when the abuse occurred. They were friends of Esmaeili’s daughter

In connection with the first alleged victim, Esmaeili is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, a charge that alleges the abuse happened three or more times in a period of more than three months.

For the second alleged victim, Esmaeili was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child.

In December, Turlock police forwarded the case to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, which filed charges and issued a warrant in July.

Esmaeili was arrested Thursday at his home in the 400 block of North Thor Street in Turlock when the officers responded there for a verbal dispute. He is being held in the downtown men’s jail on $250,000 bail.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Turlock man charged with sexually abusing two girls."