Man pleads guilty to sexual assault on 10-year-old girl in Poway

A man who molested a 10-year-old girl at a Poway apartment complex remains behind bars Friday after pleading guilty to a felony sex crime.

Jose Juan Santana, 37, admitted to inappropriately touching the girl at a Midland Road apartment complex in May, and is expected to be sentenced later this year to eight years in state prison.

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Prosecutors allege Santana approached the victim and threw her against a wall prior to the assault. He then fled the complex on an electric scooter when the girl and a friend of hers screamed at him to stop, sheriff’s Lt. Aloha Peters said.

He was arrested four days later.

Santana pleaded guilty on Thursday to a single count of lewd and lascivious acts on a child. He’s slated to be sentenced in December.