Sheriff: illegal Venezuelan arrested for capital sexual battery

After coming forward and telling adults what happened to her, a six-year-old girl provided enough information to trusted adults about sexual abuse she received from a 56-year-old man that he has been arrested.

Wuiliam Gerardo Colmenares-Mendez, a Venezuelan national, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of capital sexual battery, two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and one count of showing obscene material to a minor.

According to Sheriff Marcos Lopez, detectives took the report of the victim’s mother at the child’s school on Sept. 5. After the victim spoke about it to a school official, who called police, the mother said her daughter was molested by the suspect, who was renting a room at the residence they shared.

An investigation was conducted, and the 6-year-old female victim disclosed that the first time the suspect grabbed her, covered her mouth with one hand, and touched her vagina and buttocks with the other hand. The second time, Mr. Colmenares-Mendez molested the victim after he showed her pornographic images on his cellphone. He left the residence soon after.

Detectives discovered his van at a nearby apartment complex on Friday, and apprehended him when he got in the van.

Lopez reminded the media at a press conference Friday that, as of Oct. 1 thanks to a new state law, those charged with capital sexual battery can get the death penalty.

“Anyone who rapes a child under 12 will go in front of a grand jury. That’s how serious these charges are. We’re looking for justice for the victims, always,” he said. “She did the right thing. She told her mom, school officials and law enforcement what happened.

Lopez noted Colmenares-Mendez was stopped by Texas immigration officials in January 2022 after crossing the border, and was issued a notice to appear in court then.