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The Pleasanton Police Department has arrested a Livermore resident for sexual battery and invasion of privacy after police said they believe he recorded inappropriate videos of a woman at a grocery store in Pleasanton in December.
Police identified the man as 26-year-old Jesus Castro-Leon who, after being arrested, was discovered to have over 250 videos of him allegedly recording women without their consent on his phone, according to a social media post from the department on Thursday.
“This is a sensitive case and we thank the community for their responsiveness in helping identify the suspect,” PPD Lt. Erik Silacci said in the post. “We commend the woman who courageously reported her frightening encounter, which resulted in the suspect’s arrest. We are continuing to investigate to ensure that Castro-Leon is held responsible for his crimes.”
According to PPD, Castro-Leon allegedly followed a woman into the bathroom of a grocery store in Pleasanton on Dec. 1 and proceeded to record her with his phone. After the woman tried defending herself, she filed a report with PPD.
Her report is what led the department to post a video on its Facebook account of a man who, at the time, was considered to be a person of interest walking around the grocery store. According to that Jan. 3 post, detectives were working on a sexually related investigation involving that person.
Silacci told the Weekly that he did not want to share which grocery store this incident took place because,”we don’t draw attention away from the trauma experienced by the victim in this case.”
PPD had asked for the public to help identify the person based on the limited security camera footage and after immediate response from numerous community members, PPD was able to positively identify Castro-Leon, police said.
Then on Jan. 4, Castro-Leon voluntarily visited the police department to inquire about the photos and video posted on the department’s social media and was subsequently arrested for interfering with a police investigation, according to the PPD’s post on Thursday.
Upon his arrest, police seized his phone and discovered the videos of other women, which police said appear to have been recorded throughout the Tri-Valley.
Silacci told the Weekly that after PPD gathered more information about the contents on his phone, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office charged Castro-Leon with two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and invasion of privacy.
The DA’s office has not responded about when Castro-Leon’s court date was set as of time of publication.
“We’re also asking for anyone who may have been a victim to contact us or their local police department as we are still investigating and further charges may be filed as additional information is gathered,” Silacci said.
