Riverside police: Child was sexually assaulted in library bathroom

(FOX 11) - It's a crime that has parents in Riverside really upset. A six-year-old boy was sexually assaulted in the bathroom of a public library.

The suspect a registered sex offender has been arrested.

"It's really sad and disgusting. " said library patron Pam Thind. She was at the eastside library in Riverside last Wednesday when the unthinkable happened. Police say, a six year-old boy was molested inside the bathroom, library security video capturing the moments leading up to the alleged crime.

"As the child is going into the restroom, the suspect gets up from his seat and goes directly to there and 20 or 30 seconds is all it took for the suspect to commit that sexual assault. " said Riverside Police Public Information Officer Ryan Railsback.

"The child came out and went and told the dad and the guy pretty much bolted for the door and left." said Thind.

Detectives recognized the suspect as 29 year old Juan Francisco Palacios, a registered sex offender currently on probation for posessing child porn.

He had reportedly been at the eastside library all day trying to sell a computer tablet.

"There wasn't anything about it that stood out... I mean you wouldn't think that he looks like a child molester... But I don't know what that really means... What does that look like." said Thind.

On Sunday, employees at the public library in downtown Riverside spotted a man resembling Palacios and called police.

Thind who is mom to an 8 year-old daughter, is relieved he was caught and says she is reminded that crimes like this can happen anywhere.

"At the end of the day, you've gotta go with them everywhere.. That's what it comes down to."

Palacios booked into the Riverside jail on one count of sexual assault against a minor and probation violations he is being held on one million dollars bail.

Police want to make sure he did not assault other kids.