Another terrible consequence of ID theft!!!

EXCLUSIVE: Santa Rosa ID Theft Victim Falsely Accused in Georgia Child Molestation Case

Updated: Jan 24, 2008 10:00 AM PST



Reported by Marcy Martinez

Cameron County Sheriff's Deputies receive an arrest warrant Monday from the Douglas County Sheriff's Department in Georgia asking for assistance tracking down and arresting a wanted suspect.

Named in the warrant, Javier Daniel Cepeda along with personal information, his height, weight, eyes and hair color and facing 2 counts of child molestation.

Cepeda voluntarily turned himself in, but contested the charges against him according to Sheriff Omar Lucio.

"We went out there, the individual said it's not him, we sent a picture to Georgia and the victim said this is not the guy."

Not the guy!

Cepeda turned out to be a victim himself. A victim of identity theft which unfortunately landed him in the Cameron County jail for 2 days until authorities in Georgia confirmed his information was being used by another man.

Action 4 News caught up to Cepeda and his wife minutes after he arrived home from jail.

Cepeda says he was surprised by the warrant and was not prepared to spend time in jail especially since he didn't commit a crime.

His wife Beatrice was just as shocked.

"Right now we don't know what happened, it's shocking that this is going on."

Cepeda still trying to make sense of it all thinks someone got his driver's license or social security number as was posing as him in another state when the alleged child molestation occured.

His wife says she never second guessed her husband.

"The dates they had, he was in Texas. We knew from the beginning it wasn't him."

Seeing his mugshot and charges against him affected the entire family.

"It was hard and then it was on the news, it was even worse for the family. As long as we believe it wasn't your dad."

Cepeda is home with his family now, but says being portrayed as a child molester and jailed for it was the worst feeling ever.

We attempted to contact the sheriff's department in Douglas County but were unable to speak to the investigator.

Javier Cepeda does have an attorney, but says right now he's more concerned about clearing his name and making sure this doesn't happen to him again.
http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=7767984