Organizer Accused of Molestation

Los Angeles - Los Angeles police on Tuesday released a photo of a 47-year-old man convicted of a crime involving a child, saying the self-described community organizer may have violated other children.

Jorge Fernandez was arrested Friday and jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail after he and his wife met with juvenile social workers in the mid-Wilshire area, police said.

"We believe the case we are investigating may be just one of several other crimes against children," said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Central Station.

"Fernandez was arrested for a similar act in 2008, and pled guilty to battery and willful cruelty to a child."

In January, a woman and her 13-year-old daughter came to California to report a crime against Fernandez. Three years before, when the child was 10, her mother went to an office at 634 S. Spring St. to enroll her daughter in a program that Fernandez ran.

Fernandez and his wife invited the 10-year-old to stay overnight at their downtown home, so the girl could play with Fernandez's young daughter, the lieutenant said. The victim said that Fernandez fondled her on three occasions over the next several months -- something she revealed during counseling sessions, Vernon said.

Fernandez describes himself as a community organizer involved in the annual Mexican Independence Day parade in Huntington Park.

He also promoted a self-help service and was affiliated with the Comte Mexicano Civico Patriotico in Huntington Beach, as well as the Federation de Mexico Unidos, then located on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, Vernon said.

"Much of Fernandez's organizing efforts dealt with recruiting young children into his civic programs," Vernon said, "and that sent up a big flag for us."

Anyone with more information was asked to call Detective Reynaldo Martinez at (213) 972-1230.