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Man accused of attacking 9-year-old at library faces new charge, California cops say

A man already facing charges that he sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl in an Irvine library has been arrested in a second, unrelated case, California police say.

Christopher Eduard, 53, of Los Angeles now also faces a sexual battery charge in a previously unsolved 2021 case inside a Target store, Irvine police said in a news release.

Eduard, who had been released from jail on bail in the library case, was re-arrested at his home in the 2021 case, police said in the Wednesday, March 29, news release.

9-year-old girl sexually assaulted in children’s area of library, California cops say

Eduard approached a 9-year-old girl in the children’s section at the Irvine Heritage Park branch of the Orange County public library Tuesday, March 21, McClatchy News reported.

He asked her to help film a video, gave her his phone and had her read from cue cards, police said. He then exposed himself and sexually assaulted her, according to police.

Police arrested him Friday, March 24, on charges including sexual assault of a child, production of child pornography and false imprisonment of a child to produce child pornography.

At the time of his arrest, police asked other potential victims to come forward. He was released Saturday on bail.

Eduard is now also accused of following an 11-year-old girl shopping with her family in a Target store in May 2021, police said.

After the girl stepped away from her family to go to another aisle, Eduard groped her from behind and fled to his vehicle outside when she ran to find her family, police said.

Police ask anyone with information on these or other cases to contact detective Gavin Hudson at 949-724-7168 or ghudson@cityofirvine.org.

Irvine is a city of 310,000 people about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

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