Trial date set in alleged sexual assault
An April trial date has been set for a homeless man accused of molesting an 11-year-old boy in a restroom at Texarkana Public Library.
Javier Perez, 26, appeared Monday morning before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell with Clayton Haas of the Bowie County Public Defenders Office for a pretrial hearing in a first-floor courtroom of Texarkana’s downtown Bi-State Justice Building. Perez stood quietly as Haas told the court the defense had no pretrial address to raise at the hearing.
Tidwell scheduled the case for jury selection the week of April 8. Perez faces five to 99 years or life in prison if found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Perez has been in custody since his arrest June 27 by Texarkana, Texas, police. Officers were called by alert library staff who were familiar with the boy and became concerned when they twice saw Perez accompany the boy to the bathroom, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
A male library staff member entered the bathroom and observed two pairs of feet in one locked stall. By the time police arrived, Perez was gone. He was later located and arrested at the Randy Sam’s homeless shelter in downtown Texarkana.
The boy allegedly reported that when he refused to lower his pants at Perez’s request, Perez pulled both his own and the boy’s pants down. The boy alleges Perez groped him and sodomized him in the bathroom.
Perez is being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at $100,000. First Assistant District Attorney Michael Sheperd and Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter are handling the prosecution.