A disturbing case has unfolded in Sacramento County as a man was arrested for sexually assaulting three children within his own family. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office reported the arrest of Melvin Rutherford, who faces charges of sexual abuse against a 6-year-old girl as well as her two brothers, aged 9 and 11.
The horrific events came to light after the children's mother contacted the Sheriff's Office earlier this year to report the assault on her daughter. The social media post from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office revealed that the girl, upon being interviewed by specialists at the Sacramento Special Assault Forensic Evaluation (SAFE) Center, told of the abuse that occurred in Rutherford's home. According to the statement posted on Facebook, the girl confided the abuse to her mother several days after the incident, which led to the confrontation with Rutherford. When faced with the allegations, Rutherford reportedly replied that he "did not know what to say to her."
The investigation, led by Child Abuse Bureau Detectives, further uncovered that Rutherford's transgressions extended to the girl's brothers. After being interviewed at the SAFE Center, the boys narrated how Rutherford had subjected them to inappropriate acts. As the office conveyed, Rutherford also attempted to give the boys marijuana, and when one of the young boys refused, Rutherford pressed it into his mouth.
Consequent to these findings, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Rutherford. On Tuesday, December 16, he was arrested by detectives from the Major Crimes Bureau and was subsequently booked at the Sacramento County Main Jail, facing a charge of Oral Copulation on a Victim Ten Years of Age or Younger and three counts of Lewd and Lascivious Acts with a Child Under 14, with his bail set at $1,300,000. The gravity of these acts continues to cast a somber shadow over the community as authorities process this deeply troubling series of events, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
