A judge set bail at $3 million Friday for a San Diego man accused of having sexually explicit photos of young children on his cellphone, many of them clients at a day care operated by his ex-wife.
Rancho Bernardo resident Abdullah Sediqi pleaded not guilty to 13 charges, including lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and lewd disorderly conduct. Graphic details of the crimes he's accused of were revealed at his arraignment Friday.
"A third victim, he was laying on his bare chest in clearly what is his bedroom, and clearly at one point, he is kissing her," said Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso. "A fourth victim, again he has her posed with her little shirt over her head and the camera is focusing on her chest and abdomen."
Sediqi at one point put his dead down as the prosecutor described photos she said were found on his cellphone. Nine of the 13 counts against the suspect are felonies, including charges of child abuse, child molestation and manufacturing pornography.
The alleged victims are children currently or formerly enrolled at the Kid's Castle Day Care on Matinal Road, a Rancho Bernardo business owned and operated by Sediqi’s ex-wife, Katrien Sediqi. Police said Sediqi was living in the house where the day care is operated.
"I understand the allegations are extreme," Sediqi's defense attorney Peter Liss said, "but we live in a country where we have laws and evidence and I would like to see what evidence is against my client."
Sediqi is also accused of taking up-skirt photographs of women as they shopped at the Valley Thrift Store on East Valley Parkway in Escondido.
"He is very humbled and ashamed right now for his predicament he put his family in," said Liss. "I understand he's the defendant, but it's a very sad state of affairs right now."
Escondido Police arrested Sediqi, 64, Wednesday on suspicion of possessing child pornography and other sex crimes against children.
Police said Sediqi was first arrested on June 13 after a woman shopping at the Valley Thrift Store noticed the suspect crouched down closely behind her with his cellphone in hand.
The woman moved away from him and then saw Sediqi approach another woman shopping at the store. Sediqi then allegedly crouched down low to take a photograph under the woman’s clothing, police said.
The witness called police and officers arrived at the store to speak with the suspect.
Officers discovered Sediqi had used his phone to snap several photos underneath the clothing of unsuspecting women in the store, two of whom were minors. The up-skirt images were taken from at least two separate locations, police said.
Sediqi was arrested at the scene and booked in the Vista Detention Facility. He posted bail and was released.
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"This man is a true predator," said Grasso. "He's a predator to baby girls, he's a predator to minor girls and he's a predator to women."
As part of the investigation, police said Sediqi’s phone was forensically analyzed by an Escondido Police detective with the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The detective found that Sediqi’s phone contained more than 6,000 photographs, and while most were innocuous, they found more than up-skirt shots.
Many of the pictures were “very graphic and disturbing,” images of children, Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter said during a news conference Thursday morning. Some of the girls in the photos appeared to be as young as three to five years old -- many from Katrien's day care.
Further investigation revealed that many of the children in those disturbing photographs were kids that attend Kid’s Castle Day Care on Matinal Road, a Rancho Bernardo business owned and operated by Sediqi’s ex-wife, Katrien Sediqi. The day care also goes by the name of Sediqi Family Day Care.
"This is very devastating. This is a very sick individual," said Chief Carter. "This is something that I need the parents that were in this day care from 2013 to present to come forward."
Based on these new charges of possession of child pornography, police arrested Sediqi again within 24 hours of his up-skirt arrest. He is currently being held without bail on dozens of charges.
The EPD said detectives served a search warrant on the Sediqi home and day care facility and seized all records of current clients of the business. More phones, computers and external hard drives were also taken from the home by investigators.
During the search, investigators said they also found nearly 14 grams of cocaine inside the home belonging to the suspect’s adult son, Roin Mohammad Sediqi, 26. Roin was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, police said.
The police department said officers contacted the parents of every child who is a current client of Kid’s Castle Day Care and alerted them of Sediqi’s arrest.
“The reactions, as you could imagine, are shock,” said Carter. “They say that they trusted this family, and even Mr. Sediqi said himself that, ‘We really appreciate you the parents, and I would do anything for you or your children.’”
Police have also notified the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services, which is responsible for the issuance and revocation of state licenses to day care facilities.
The EPD said the investigation on this case is ongoing. San Diego court records show Sediqi and his ex-wife filed for divorce in June 2010.
Anyone who is a current or former client of the day care who is concerned their child may have been victimized by Sediqi should contact detectives at the police department at (760) 839-4926.
