Santa Rosa man, 55, arrested in molestation of relative

A 55-year-old Santa Rosa man was arrested Friday by Rohnert Park detectives on suspicion of molesting a relative and another girl years ago, police said.

The relative had reported in 2013, when she was 11, that Randall Cover had repeatedly molested her when she was 8, Rohnert Park Sgt. Jeff Justice said in a press release.

The case was investigated at the time, but there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest, he said.

In August, a friend of the girl reported that she had been molested by Cover when she would visit the girl’s house around the same time the girl had reported the alleged offenses, Justice said.

Detectives began investigating the second girl’s report and also reopened the original case. Additional evidence was obtained and investigators got a warrant for Cover’s arrest, he said.

Cover was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. He was held on $250,000 bail.

Police asked anyone with information on the case or any additional victims to call 707-584-2630.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@guykovner.