Police Say Murrieta Man Has Sexual Obsession with Young Girls, Socks

A Murrieta man was arrested-- and released on bail-- this weekend in connection to several "child annoyance" cases in town involving a suspected sexual fetish, police said Monday.

Murrieta police say 31-year-old Alexis Edmundo Garcia is suspected of contacting young girls at local schools on at least five separate occasions over the last two months.

"Mr. Garcia drives up to minor female victims between ages 11 and 17 years old and engages them in conversation," Murrieta Police Lt. Tony Conrad said Monday.  "The conversation centers around the victim's socks.  The investigation has led detectives to believe the suspect has a fixation with the socks being worn by the minor female victims.  This obsession is sexual in nature."

On Friday, police issued an alert about a man who was contacting the girls, in hopes that someone might spot him or one of the vehicles he had been previously driving.

That same night, Conrad says a police detective saw someone approach a girl near the Murrieta Boys & Girls Club.  He was later identified as Garcia and arrested.

Though police believe they've arrested the main suspect in this case, they think there may be more victims.

"Although the suspect has been arrested and positively identified in a number of cases, it is likely there are additional victims in the community and the police department is asking parents to discuss the child annoyance incidents with their daughters to determine if there are additional victims in this case," Conrad said.

Conrad said that Garcia is believed to have contacted girls at Murrieta Mesa High School, Shivela Middle School, Rail Ranch Elementary and Alta Murrieta Elementary School.

Jail booking records indicate that Garcia was booked into the Murrieta jail on Friday night on charges of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, possession of material depicting a minor simulating sexual conduct and annoying a minor.

He posted $5,000 bail on Saturday, according to jail records.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Sergeant Phil Gomez at 951.461.6356 or the police non-emergency number at 951.696.3615.