duncan228
12-17-2008, 02:00 PM
Santa letter spurs arrest (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/state/Santa_letter_spurs_arrest.html)
By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News
PHARR A young girl's plea to Santa to stop a relative from molesting her and her sister has resulted in sexual abuse charges against a 55-year-old man.
The relative was in court on a second charge of sexual abuse Tuesday, days after a 9-year-old girl wrote a letter to Santa asking that he stop him from touching her and her 10-year-old sister.
The San Antonio Express-News is not naming the man to protect the girls' identities.
Police first charged the man Friday, after the girl pleaded for help in a holiday wish list assigned by her elementary school teacher. The letters were turned in Thursday.
After reading it, the teacher reported the alleged abuse to a counselor, who called Child Protective Services and the police, said Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District spokeswoman Arianna Vasquez-Hernandez.
Tuesday's charge came after the sisters told interviewers at the Children's Advocacy Center in Hidalgo County that the relative had been touching them under their clothes for the past four years.
It was unclear Tuesday whether the man had an attorney.
The 10-year-old said the touching happened in her bedroom while she was working on schoolwork; the 9-year-old said he touched her in her bedroom at night when everybody else was asleep.
The suspect was in the Hidalgo County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $100,000 bond for the first charge and $250,000 for the second charge.
Each charge carries five to 99 years to life in prison and a $10,000 fine upon conviction.
Police Lt. Guadalupe Salinas said the case is now turned over to the Hidalgo County District Attorney's Office.
It's sad, Salinas said. And it's sad that it had to go through this this time of the year, in this way to come out.
Salinas said the girls' mother was unaware of the abuse.
The suspect works as a computer lab aide at Lamar Academy, an alternative high school in McAllen.
McAllen Independent School District spokesman Mark May said there were no reports of wrongdoing by the suspect on campus.
Child Protective Services spokesman John Lennan said he could not comment on the case but that CPS was working with investigators and the family.
By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News
PHARR A young girl's plea to Santa to stop a relative from molesting her and her sister has resulted in sexual abuse charges against a 55-year-old man.
The relative was in court on a second charge of sexual abuse Tuesday, days after a 9-year-old girl wrote a letter to Santa asking that he stop him from touching her and her 10-year-old sister.
The San Antonio Express-News is not naming the man to protect the girls' identities.
Police first charged the man Friday, after the girl pleaded for help in a holiday wish list assigned by her elementary school teacher. The letters were turned in Thursday.
After reading it, the teacher reported the alleged abuse to a counselor, who called Child Protective Services and the police, said Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District spokeswoman Arianna Vasquez-Hernandez.
Tuesday's charge came after the sisters told interviewers at the Children's Advocacy Center in Hidalgo County that the relative had been touching them under their clothes for the past four years.
It was unclear Tuesday whether the man had an attorney.
The 10-year-old said the touching happened in her bedroom while she was working on schoolwork; the 9-year-old said he touched her in her bedroom at night when everybody else was asleep.
The suspect was in the Hidalgo County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $100,000 bond for the first charge and $250,000 for the second charge.
Each charge carries five to 99 years to life in prison and a $10,000 fine upon conviction.
Police Lt. Guadalupe Salinas said the case is now turned over to the Hidalgo County District Attorney's Office.
It's sad, Salinas said. And it's sad that it had to go through this this time of the year, in this way to come out.
Salinas said the girls' mother was unaware of the abuse.
The suspect works as a computer lab aide at Lamar Academy, an alternative high school in McAllen.
McAllen Independent School District spokesman Mark May said there were no reports of wrongdoing by the suspect on campus.
Child Protective Services spokesman John Lennan said he could not comment on the case but that CPS was working with investigators and the family.