BRIEF: Arizona man denies sexually abusing Redlands teen

May 16--REDLANDS -- An Arizona man was brought back to San Bernardino County to face charges he sexually abused a young Redlands girl several years ago, court records show.

Salvador Mendez, 33, denied last week in San Bernardino Superior Court he sexually abused the girl in 2015, according to Redlands police investigators.

"This was a sexual assault case that occurred in May of 2015 when the victim was 14 years old," said Carl Baker, spokesman for the city said in an email.

Investigators learned Mendez was a friend of the family.

The alleged crime was reported to the police in December 2015, he said.

After police concluded their investigation, they presented the case to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, which filed charges of lewd acts with a child and forced sexual penetration in August.

Mendez was arrested on April 26 in Tucson and was held in the Pima County Jail until his extradition to the West Valley Detention Center last week, Baker said.

He is currently being held in lieu of $1 million bail and is expected to be back in court Thursday.

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