Deputy sheriff held for child sexual abuse

4-year-old girl was also blackmailed with threats of deporting her mother

Asheriff’s deputy in Texas is accused of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl and threatening to deport her undocumented mother if she reported the crime, authorities said.

Authorities arrested detention officer Jose Nunez, a 10-year-veteran of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, early Sunday while he was off duty. He faces a felony charge of “super aggravated sexual assault of a child”, which carries a minimum prison sentence of 25 years, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a news conference.

“The details of the case are, quite frankly, heartbreaking, disturbing, disgusting and infuriating all at the same time,” Salazar said.

The sheriff said Nunez, 47, allegedly touched the girl inappropriately on numerous occasions, causing her pain and “at least some indication of minor injury”. Authorities believe the assaults have been taking place for several months or potentially for as long as two years, Salazar said.

The 4-year-old girl is related to Nunez, and the alleged assaults took place at her residence, Salazar said. Officials suspect there may be more victims related to Nunez who were affected.

Nunez allegedly blackmailed the girl’s mother, taking advantage of her undocumented status to “place the mother in fear that she would be deported” if she reported the alleged assaults, Salazar said.

“We believe that there was some hesitation on the part of the witness to report the conduct because of the fact that she’s undocumented in the country,” Salazar said.

But after the 4-year-old girl “made an outcry to her mom”, the mother took her to a local fire station to report the crime on Saturday night, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. By morning, Nunez was booked into jail. He has not commented or filed a plea.

“Folks like this are creatures of habit and opportunity,” Salazar said. “I don’t know that he was purposely targeting the undocumented community. Certainly I think what appealed to him, in this case anyway, is the vulnerability of that community because of the fact that they’re less apt to report things.”

Salazar declined to comment on the girl’s residency status. He told the San Antonio Express-News that the mother is from Guatemala.

“The little girl now is safe and we’re continuing to process the case,” Salazar said.