MADERA COUNTY – A man wanted for child molestation is finally behind bars, almost 2 years after fleeing the country.
Elpidio Cabrales Moran, 60, was taken into custody on Wednesday, Jan 16.Sergeant Zack Zamudio, the detective assigned to the Sheriff’s Sex Crimes Unit when the allegations came to light in May 2011, worked for nearly two years to close this case, says Erica Stuart, Public Information Officer for the Madera County Sheriff’s Office.
At that time, Moran was accused of repeatedly victimizing a young girl, who was known to him, but fled to Mexico before Zamudio could make an arrest.
This past week the Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Moran was back in the U.S., and working in Madera.
At approximately 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Sergeant Zamudio located Moran in a pistachio orchard on Road 26, just north of Club Drive, and took him into custody without incident.
Elpidio Cabrales Moran remains behind bars, facing five counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, and one count of sexual battery. His bail has been set at more than half a million dollars.
