Police: Petaluma man offered to pay young girls to dance, undress

A 51-year-old Petaluma man was arrested last week after allegedly offering to pay three young girls to take off their clothes and dance for him, police said.|

A 51-year-old Petaluma man was arrested last week after allegedly offering to pay three young girls to take off their clothes and dance for him, police said.

A neighbor contacted police at 1:11 p.m. July 11 to report that a man had asked the girls, ages 11, 9 and 8, to undress in front of him in a home on the 200 block of Vallejo Street, Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons said.

The man, identified later as Marciano Flores Velasco, was renting a room in the residence where the 11-year-old victim lived, Lyons said.

He peeked into the bedroom where the children were staying as one of the girls was getting ready to take a shower and started making lewd remarks, Lyons said.

“He said he would pay them to dance for him and added that the more they took off, the more money they could make,” Lyons said. “He offered $20 to $100 dollars to dance for him.”

Velasco didn’t make physical contact with the girls, and was arrested on suspicion of annoying a child under the age of 18.

Velasco doesn’t have a criminal history with the Petaluma Police Department and is not a registered sex offender, Lyons said. He’s currently unemployed.

An emergency protective order was issued against Velasco, Lyons said.

Information about charges filed in Sonoma County Superior Court or scheduled proceedings was not immediately available.

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