BRIEF: Turlock man arrested on suspicion of child abuse, molestation

Dec. 11--A 34-year-old Turlock resident was arrested Sunday night on suspicion of sexual abuse and molestation of a child under the age of 14.

James Michael Warda is an acquaintance of the young teenage victim, said Lt. Neil Cervenka, a Turlock Police Department spokesman.

The abuse occurred over a period of less than six months, Cervenka said.

Warda faces two felony counts. The first 288.5(a) of the penal code, alleges continuous sexual abuse. It applies to "any person who either resides in the same home with the minor child or has recurring access to the child, who over a period of time, not less than three months in duration, engages in three or more acts of substantial sexual conduct with a child under the age of 14 years at the time of the commission of the offense, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1203.066, or three or more acts of lewd or lascivious conduct, as defined in Section 288."

The second, 288. (a) in the penal code, applies to "any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act (upon) ... a child who is under the age of 14 years."

Warda was in the Stanislaus County Jail on Monday morning, with bail set at $250,000.

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