RESEDA : Man, 69, Convicted of Child Molestation

A 69-year-old Reseda man, whose back-yard pool made him popular with neighborhood youngsters, has been convicted in Municipal Court of misdemeanor sexual battery and child molestation.

A jury found retired machinist William Bud Brown guilty Thursday of the charges involving three girls, ages 12 and 13, following a six-day trial. He faces a maximum two-year jail sentence when Judge Michael E. Knight sentences him Jan. 26.

Deputy City Atty. George Schell said the three girls testified they had been molested by Brown inside his house or while using his back-yard pool.

One victim, 12 at the time she was molested, said it happened about a week after the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake when she brought a food dish to Brown’s house. She testified he grabbed her from behind, rubbed her breasts and made offensive remarks, Schell said. She broke away and told her mother, who called police.

The investigation led to two other victims, who said Brown molested them during summer, 1993, when they went to his Covello Avenue home to swim in his pool.