A 27-year-old man was in custody on suspicion of sexual assault of a minor that took place in 2021, police said.
Rafael Valentin Magana was arrested Thursday in National City by the San Diego Police Department on a felony warrant charging him with oral copulation with a person under 16 years old and for lewd and lascivious acts with a 15-year-old child, authorities said.
On Nov. 6, 2021, a 15-year-old girl attended a baby shower at the residence of a church member, according to the SDPD. The girl was a member of a church choir group at the Victory Outreach Church campus at 1665 Precision Park Lane in San Ysidro.
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The choir group was composed of adults and minors and her 25-year-old church choir group leader drove her to the baby shower. After the event, instead of driving the girl back to her residence, he allegedly drove her to the 1800 block of Reo Drive in the city of San Diego where he parked the car, the SDPD said. The man allegedly sexually assaulted the girl inside the car and then drove the girl home.
The girl did not report the assault to the SDPD until March 1, 2023. The SDPD Sex Crimes Unit began to investigate and detectives identified a suspect as Magana with aliases of Rafael Burciaga and Rafael Magana-Burciaga.
On Thursday, around 6 p.m., SDPD officers arrested Magana in the 2100 block of East Plaza Boulevard in National City. Magana was booked into San Diego County Jail.
Anyone with information about the assault or was a victim of a similar assault, was asked to call the SDPD Sex Crimes Unit at 619-531-2210 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
