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Man Arrested For Allegedly Groping Child While Mom Shopped Just A Few Feet Away

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is reminding parents to always keep their young children in sight while visiting any public area where strangers are present.

The warning comes on the heels of the arrest of a Jurupa Valley man who allegedly groped a child at a local store while the child's mother wasn't looking.

Police responded to a Kmart store along the 7800 block of Limonite Avenue at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday in response to a child annoyance call, according to police.

Investigators say they later determined Orion Charles Hitchens, 32, was following a child under 10 years of age in the store and inappropriately touched the child when the parent turned away.

After Hitchens - a convicted sex offender - attempted to elude capture by disabling his state parole issued GPS monitoring ankle bracelet, he was eventually located a short time later in the 6500 block of Archer Street in Jurupa Valley, authorities said.

Hitchens was arrested and booked for three counts of child molestation related charges. His bail is set at $1 million.

Anyone with additional information about this incident is encouraged to contact Corporal Robert Martinez at the Jurupa Valley Police Station at (951) 955-2600.

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