FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Fresno Police say a man wanted for multiple sexual assaults is now in custody.
Police on Wednesday said the man confessed and had prior trouble with the law.
In the early hours of October 30, 2021, officers from the Southeast Policing District responded to the Chevron at Chestnut and Butler regarding a suspicious person.
The female employee reported a man trying to force his way into the gas station through locked doors and was committing lewd, sexual acts towards her through the glass.
The subject fled the scene before officers could arrive. The clerk described the suspect as a dark-skinned male with a goatee, wearing a dark colored sweater, light gray pants and carrying a backpack.
Over the next hour, two sexual assaults took place nearby.
Around 30 minutes after the incident at the Chevron, the same man went to an apartment by Chestnut and California Avenue and sexually assaulted an elderly female inside her apartment. During the assault, the victim fought back, causing the suspect to flee.
Around 30 minutes later, in the area of Maple and California Avenue a female victim was sexually assaulted inside her apartment. She screamed causing the suspect to flee.
In all three incidents, the description of the suspect was the same – a dark-skinned male with a goatee, wearing a dark colored sweater, light gray pants and carrying a backpack.
Detectives located a man on Tuesday matching the description at a park near Lane and Winery.
The suspect, 39-year-old Joseph Keluche, was found to have outstanding warrants for indecent exposure, violating a restraining order and resisting arrest.
Keluche was taken into custody on the warrants and ultimately confessed to detectives to all three incidents.
Keluche has been booked into the Fresno County Jail for the charges of felony sexual assault, felony assault with the intent to commit rape and burglary.
The Fresno Police Department encourages all community members to always lock their doors and windows, then double check them, before they go to bed. With the cooler weather upon us, if you decide to leave your windows partially open, please ensure to put in security measures (like wooden dowels or window rail locks).
Anyone with information on this case can remain completely anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 498-STOP (7867).
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
