Deputies: Missing Santa Clarita Girl At Home Of Convicted Sex Offender

SANTA CLARITA (CBSLA.com) — A girl reported missing in Santa Clarita was found hours later in the home of a man deputies say is a convicted sex offender.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department say the girl's parents alerted them around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators checked the girl's phone records and called a number she had recently contacted.

The man who answered, later identified as Kaene Dean, 26, said he didn't know about her whereabouts.

Deputies went to Dean's home shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday and his parents allowed investigators inside, where they found the girl "hiding" inside the garage, Sheriff's Department Sgt. Brian Hudson said.

Hudson says Dean befriended the victim at a Santa Clarita grocery store after telling her she was pretty.

The girl says he sexually assaulted her.

The Sheriff's Department says Dean is a registered sex offender after he reportedly was convicted in 2014 for indecent exposure at a mall in Glendale. However, CBS2/KCAL9 did not find Dean on the Megan's Law list of registered sex offenders. Deputies say they're investigating why Dean is not included in the Megan's Law list.

Officials also say Dean is on parole for burglary.

Patrick McGinness, who lives across the street from Dean, has several children and had no idea Dean had been convicted of a sex crime: "I'm not surprised to hear certain things, but that one I was surprised to hear."

"It makes a lot of people uneasy in the neighborhood," he said.

McGinness says Dean has been problematic, claiming he's broken into neighbors' homes and spied on McGinness' wife.

Dean was arrested and booked at Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. He's being held on $100,000 bail. Records indicate his name has also been spelled Keane Dean.

Anyone who's had contact with Dean is urged to contact the LASD Special Victims Bureau at (877) 710-5273. Anonymous tips can be made to "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website lacrimestoppers.org.