Watsonville suspect arrested in child sex proposition incident

UPDATE 6/27/2018 4:50 p.m.: A Watsonville man has been arrested after authorities say he gave a mother an inappropriate offer.

The mother, Karina, did not want us to use her last name or show her face. She said she and her five and one year old sons were walking near Watsonville High School this week, when she came across a red Ford Expedition and thought there was something strange about it.

As she got closer, that’s when she said the driver gave asked her something that surprised and scared her.

“He asked me if I wanted to make an easy $40 and I told him, ‘No,’ and ‘to leave.’ Then he told me that he just wanted to ‘suck some kids.’ Mind you have I have two boys, you can take that context however you like,” Karina told us.

Before he took off, Karina took some pictures of the driver and his SUV, then called police.

Police launched an investigation and on Wednesday, arrested 63 year old Mark Leonardich of Watsonville. He faces a misdemeanor count of soliciting a lewd act in public. Police are forwarding the case to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Karina also posted her story on social media, with it being shared more than 2,600 times. She said she hopes this will remind parents to keep an eye on their kids, especially during summer, when school is out and kids are cruising around.

“The only point I posted it was so that people could be area, the community could be aware. Our community can do a lot more together if we were aware and we protect our kids,” Karina said.

ORIGINAL POST: A Watsonville mother says she was walking with her kids when a man pulled up next to them and offered her cash in exchange for sex with her children.

The incident occurred in the 200 block of Bockius Street around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The mother, Karina told KION the man rolled his window down and asked if she wanted to make an “easy $40 bucks.”

“He said I just want to suck some kids,” Karina said in a post on Facebook that has since been shared nearly two thousand times.

Karina told the man to leave but before he did she took pictures of him and his license plate.

A police report was filed with the Watsonville Police Department.

On Wednesday, Detective Rudy Lopez followed up on the case and was able to identify the suspect as 63-year-old Mark Leonardich of Watsonville. Leonardich was interviewed at WPD and placed under arrest for a misdemeanor charge, and soliciting a lewd act in a public place.

The case will be forwarded to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office.

KION’s Mariana Hicks will have more at 5 & 6 p.m.