Napa Man Accused Of Sexually Abusing 2 Girls Related To His Wife: PD

NAPA, CA — A Napa man was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail following his arrest this week on suspicion of committing a lewd or lascivious act with a child younger than 14 and two counts of lewd acts with a child 14 or 15 years old, police said.

In late March, a 16-year-old Napa girl spoke with a school counselor and a school resource officer and disclosed there were times when she was sexually assaulted, Napa police Sgt. Peter Piersig said.

A detective talked with the girl on Tuesday, when spring break was over and students returned to school. In a forensic interview at the Courage Center, the victim described being sexually assaulted at home in Napa, while she slept, on two occasions: once in mid-2020 when she was 13 years old and another time in late 2022 when she was 15.

The victim alleged the abuser was 42-year-old Manuel Perez, the husband of a close relative of hers.

"The victim grew concerned as Perez recently began to wait for her at an after-school program, follow her as she walked home, and offer her rides (all in Napa)," Piersig said.

She also told the forensic interviewer a similar thing happened to her close female relative years ago.

When detectives spoke with the second victim she was reluctant to discuss the matter but did allege Perez committed a similar assault on her when she was 15 years old and was asleep at home in Napa.

Tuesday afternoon, Perez was detained outside his Napa apartment. He was interviewed by Spanish-speaking detectives and then booked into the Napa County Department of Corrections on suspicion of the assaults of both victims, Piersig said.

The Napa Police Department asked anyone with additional information regarding Perez to contact Detective Kyle Upchurch at kupchurch@cityofnapa.org.