RIVERSIDE — A convicted sex offender who sexually assaulted a third grade girl inside a restroom at a Riverside elementary school was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life in state prison.
Logan Allen Nighswonger, 34, of Riverside pleaded guilty in May to forcible lewd acts on a child under 14 years old under an agreement negotiated with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped three related felony counts against Nighswonger.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
Nighswonger perpetrated the sexual assault on Aug. 19, 2022, at McAuliffe Elementary School in the 4100 block of Golden Avenue.
According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, about 12:30 p.m., the defendant jumped a campus perimeter fence and headed into a building where classes were in session.
An administrator, whose identity was not disclosed, spotted him moments later emerging from a girls’ bathroom, where a child was heard screaming and crying, Railsback said.
Court documents said Nighswonger cornered and groped the 10-year-old victim, identified only as “A.R.,” for an unspecified period, then fled.
“Children should never experience a situation such as this, and it deeply saddens me that this incident occurred,” Alvord Unified School District Superintendent Allan Mucerino said in a statement released soon afterward. “It gives us pause and reinforces our commitment to school safety in recognition that, even when we follow safety best practices and do everything in our power to secure our campuses, there continues to be threats.”
The administrator who saw the 6-foot-3-inch sex registrant leave the restroom watched as he exited the building and jumped another fence on his way off of school grounds, according to Railsback.
The witness observed the car that the defendant drove away, noting the license plate. He provided that information to police in a 911 call moments later.
The police department’s Sexual Assault-Child Abuse Unit quickly developed leads indicating that Nighswonger had gone to Placentia, where he was apprehended without incident on Melrose Street less than four hours later. The defendant was then taken back to Riverside and booked into jail.
He had two prior misdemeanor convictions for annoying a minor.
