Case Filed Against Man Accused of Groping 12-Year-Old Girl At Pasadena Bus Stop

Suspect Farris Tollette of Palmdale. [Pasadena Police Dept.]

A 57-year-old man who is accused of groping a 12-year-old girl near a bus stop in Pasadena was charged Tuesday with a lewd act on a child.

Farris Tollette of Palmdale pleaded not guilty and was ordered to remain jailed in lieu of $1.1 million bail.

According to the Pasadena Police Department, the girl was attacked in the 300 block of North Lake Avenue around 7:25 a.m. last Wednesday while she was sitting on a bench. The suspect allegedly fled the area on a bicycle, heading south on Lake Avenue.

Police said the girl boarded a bus moments later heading to school, where she contacted her mother.

“The victim, a Pasadena resident, was not injured. Once she arrived at school, she called her mom, who took her home, where she reported it (the alleged assault) to the police department,” police said in a statement.

Detectives later obtained surveillance video.

Tollette was arrested just after 7 a.m. Saturday by Pasadena police.

He is due back in a Pasadena courtroom Dec. 10.