Long Beach police seek additional victims of gardener arrested for alleged sexual battery

A gardener from Norwalk has been arrested in connection to several sexual battery cases in Long Beach and police believe there may be more victims.

Meliton Santoyo Jaramillo, 38, was arrested on Monday in La Mirada and booked on three counts of sexual battery.

"Detectives believe that suspect Jaramillo was working as a gardener for the victims in each of the incidents." Long Beach Police said in a statement.

Investigators say the first two cases took place in August 2023 and were against two elderly women. A third incident happened on Feb. 22, 2024 against a third woman. All the crimes allegedly occurred at Bellflower Boulevard and Wardlow Road in Long Beach.

Detectives believe there may be additional unreported incidents and encourage any possible victims to contact Sex Crimes Detail at (562) 570-7368.