Young girl scares off sexual assailant in Madera, police say

MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Madera man is in jail after a young girl’s horrifying wakeup call Saturday.

“A little girl woke up to an older male adult in her bedroom,” Madera Police Sgt. Blake Short said.

Madera police arrested 43-year-old Hilario Morales-Santiago on

Saturday.

They say he broke into a family’s home at 3 a.m. that morning and tried to sexually assault the 13-year-old girl who lives there.

“She showed tremendous courage and bravery by immediately screaming out to him to leave,” Short said. “And because of her actions, I think that that obviously startled this male, probably not feeling like that would be a natural response of somebody of that age.”

Short says the girl immediately called 911, and the suspect ran away. He says officers arrived in time to see Morales-Santiago walking out the back door.

“Because of her call and the way the officers responded, we were able to apprehend him a short distance away from this residence,” Short said.

He says her courage protected herself and possible future victims.

“It’s important that we’re talking to our kids and instilling in them the tools and the courage and the bravery to do things like this 13-year-old young girl,” Short said.

Morales-Santiago is charged with a felony count of entering a home with the intent of committing a sexual act. However, Short says this was not the suspect’s first encounter with police.

“He is not necessarily new to us,” Short said. “We have records stemming back from 2008 involving him.”

He says that long history has made the department even more vigilant, and he suspects there may be more victims who have yet to come forward.

He encourages anyone with information on this or similar cases to call the department at 559-675-4220.