A man who ran a daycare business with his wife in Palm Springs is to be arraigned Friday for allegedly raping a child.
Jose Manuel Mercado, 37, of Palm Springs, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of aggravated sexual assault with a minor using force.
Specifically, he is accused of rape and forced oral copulation.
Mercado was arrested Monday, said Officer Rhonda Long of the Palm Springs Police Department.
Mercado and his wife ran a daycare center from their apartment at the Tahquitz Court Apartments at 2890 Tahquitz Canyon Way, Long said.
Police have not said if the victim — whose age and gender were withheld — was in Mercado’s care when the alleged abuse took place.
But families that used the daycare within the last eight years were asked to check with their children to see if they were molested, and contact the police if they were, Long said.
Mercado was being held in lieu of $1 million at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Loading ...