Artesia Man Convicted of Kidnapping and Sexual Assault of Underage Girls

A 29-year-old Artesia man has been convicted of sexually assaulting two girls and attempting to kidnap a 10-year-old girl in Orange County over a five month period in 2009.

Jurors took only two hours Wednesday to find Alfredo Granados Canchola guilty of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, lewd acts on a child under 14, sexual penetration by a foreign object by force, aggravated kidnapping with the intent to commit a sex offense, and attempted kidnapping to commit a sex offense, Orange County Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown said.

Canchola approached a 13-year-old girl who was walking to junior high school in Anaheim at about 7:45 a.m. on March 19, 2009, Brown said. He drove his 1988 Toyota Camry to her, asked for directions and then offered her a ride.

When she got into the car he started driving away from the school and touched the girl's leg while pulling the seat belt tighter and speeding up, Brown said. The girl managed to get free and tumbled out of the moving car, Brown said.

Canchola approached the next victim, a 16-year-old girl, on the San Diego (405) Freeway in Irvine at about 1 p.m. on May 19, 2009.

The girl was driving on the freeway when Canchola waved her over to get directions, Brown said.

Canchola persuaded the girl to follow him off the freeway to an apartment parking lot, where he forced her into his burgundy-colored Lexus and molested her and kissed her, Brown said.

The girl managed to send a text message to her boyfriend through her phone while she was being attacked and he drove over to where the two were and beat up Canchola, Brown said.

In the third incident, Canchola tried to kidnap a 10-year-old girl near her home in an unincorporated area near Anaheim at about 3 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2009, Brown said.

The girl resisted his attempts to talk to him, even turning down an offer of money, and rode her scooter back to her father, who ran after Canchola and got a partial license plate number, Brown said.

The partial license plate led investigators to Canchola, who was caught when he responded to a ruse by investigators who called him about detailing his truck, Brown said.

Defense attorney Kaveh Ardalan did not respond to messages for comment.

Canchola is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28 and faces a minimum of 40 years to life in prison.

-- City News Service contributed to this report.