Police say he started abusing girls sexually when he was a teen. He’s 37 now.

A Porterville man was arrested for child sexual abuse that lasted more than 20 years, Porterville police said Thursday.

Police were conducting a welfare check Tuesday near the home of Adrian Nunez, 37, when he confessed to officers that he had molested a 10-year-old child in the 400 block of South Main Street in Porterville. He was arrested and booked into Tulare County Jail.

On Wednesday, two girls ages 15 and 12 told Porterville police that they were victims of ongoing sexual abuse by Nunez, police reported.

The 15-year-old told investigators that the abuse started about 2005 when Nunez forcibly molested, raped and orally copulated her. These incidents are alleged to have occurred two or three times a month, at times once a week, over an 18-month period. She estimated she was molested some 200 times by Nunez.

The 12-year-old alleged that Nunez tried to molest her on one occasion in 2015, but she resisted and he stopped. Another 28-year-old woman then alleged to Porterville police that Nunez had sexually assaulted her on several occasions from 1995 to 2010 in Poplar.

Police said all the victims are related, except the child Nunez confessed to molesting earlier this week. The victims said they feared reporting the incidents until they learned of Nunez’s arrest.

Detectives served a search warrant at Nunez’s home in the 400 block of South Main Street where they collected potential evidence.

Nunez was booked on multiple counts of ongoing sexual assault. His bail is set at $1.25 million.

Anyone with information regarding these alleged incidents or others is asked to call Detective Orlando Ortiz at 559-782-7400.

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Police say he started abusing girls sexually when he was a teen. He’s 37 now.."