FRESNO (AP) ― A Central California man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he kidnapped a 10-year-old girl on her way to school, took her to a rural area and sexually assaulted her.
Local media reports that 23-year-old Kalvin Michael Cardenas of Clovis entered the plea on Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court.
He is accused of taking the girl off the street late last month while she was walking to Fresno’s Vinland Elementary School. Sheriff’s officials say he then drove her to a secluded area near Kerman in his truck, bound her wrists and sexually assaulted her before abandoning her.
His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 29. He is being held in Fresno County Jail.