(CNN) A prosecutor in Northern California was placed on leave after he allegedly used his daughter to lure a suspected child molester, the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office says.

Authorities had been searching for a man who approached a 13-year-old girl several times between August and September while she was walking her dog at the Los Alamitos Creek Trail in San Jose, the San Jose Police Department said in a statement . The man touched the girl inappropriately on the last three occasions they met, police said.

The girl was the daughter of a prosecutor for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

The prosecutor, who has not been identified, sent his daughter back to walk on the trail while staying in touch with her using cellphones and earbuds, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

In a police report obtained by the newspaper, a police sergeant said the prosecutor told his daughter "to let (the suspect) touch her if she encountered him, but if it was the breast or between the legs to move away. He instructed (the victim) to let (the suspect) identify and make the contact and if she cannot handle things she should move away. He instructed (the victim) to walk back and forth on the designated route and don't interact with anyone for very long."

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