Caregiver accused in Manhattan Beach child sexual abuse case believed to be in Philippines
The Federal Bureau of Investigation released photos Wednesday of a man who fled the United States for the Philippines in 2015 after two children accused the caregiver of molesting them at their home in Manhattan Beach.
Federal prosecutors are hoping the public will help them find Edgardo Feralin Dormido Jr., 48, who was charged with five counts related to the alleged child molestation in Los Angeles County Supreme Court in October 2015 — three months after two 9-year-old girls told their mother that Dormido had inappropriately touched them on numerous occasions over the course of more than a year, according to prosecutors.
Dormido had worked as a caregiver for the family and fled the country just days after the girls’ mother fired him.
Officials with the International Churches of Christ and International Christian Church declined to comment on the allegations.
According to the two girls, he rubbed their breasts and genitals in the hallways of the home, in the bathroom and even in a treehouse the family had, according to a federal complaint filed last year.
“What ever you want to do to me.... I accept it... this is the biggest mistake I done to you, pls I beg you dont end my life or kill me,” Dormido wrote in a text to the girls’ mother on July 11, 2015, the day he was fired. “If u want to send me in prison il accept it.... im sorry... i am a sinner to be punish.”
Dormido left the U.S. just two days later, flying first to Taiwan and from there to the Philippines, according to federal agents.
Nearly seven years after Dormido was charged in L.A. Superior Court, he was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
LAUSD and two administrators convicted of failing to report a teacher’s sexual abuse of a student is sued by the victim.
But federal prosecutors have been unable to locate him in the Philippines, though they believe he is working as a janitor at Bago City College in Bago City. He’s believed to be 5 foot 4 and weigh 130 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair, according to authorities.
The FBI said it released the photos in the hopes that the public may help locate Dormido in the Philippines.
“The trail has gone cold and we’re hoping someone may know where he is,” said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI Los Angeles field office.
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