PALM DESERT (CNS) - A man accused of groping two teenage girls on two separate occasions at a Palm Desert Walmart was arrested today.
Brian John Averett, 45, of Palm Desert is accused of grabbing a 16-year-old girl's buttocks on July 30 and a 17-year-old girl's buttocks on Wednesday at the Walmart located at 34500 Monterey Ave., according to Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. David Wright.
The first incident occurred just before 5 p.m. while the girl was shopping inside the store. Deputies were summoned to the store but were unable to find the suspect, Wright said.
At 4:18 p.m. Wednesday, deputies received a similar report, this time involving the 17-year-old victim, and focused on Averett as a suspect in both incidents, Wright said.
Averett was arrested around 9 a.m. Friday at an undisclosed Palm Desert business and was booked into the Riverside County Jail in Indio on suspicion of two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and two misdemeanor counts of child annoyance.