SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A South Lake Tahoe man suspected of sexually assaulting multiple children was arrested last weekend.

Fernando Calderon, 57, was arrested on Saturday, March 4, for five counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, South Lake Tahoe Police officials said.

The case started in July 2022 when a report was made to the police department regarding possible sexual assaults against minor victims.

Detectives took over the case and launched an investigation, and over the course of the lengthy process, they identified Calderon as a suspect and determined that the three victims involved were all known to him, the department said.

The department said detectives established probable cause to arrest Calderon and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

On March 4, Calderon was located and arrested by SLTPD without incident and bail was set at $2 million.

El Dorado County Jail personnel on Tuesday said Calderon was arraigned that day and denied bail.

Calderon may be in the country illegally as the jail added another charge for deportation proceedings. They told the Tribune that California is a sanctuary state and said there’s not a lot of action as far as deportation. 

SLTPD said it does not investigate, enforce or report immigration status to federal agencies and the deportation charge has nothing to do with the case the department investigated. The department added that it also does not make arrests for charges related to immigration status.

Ashleigh Goodwin can be reached at agoodwin@tahoedailytribune.com. Bill Rozak can be reached at brozak@tahoedailytribune.com.