Records allege suspect told 12-year-old victim to tell everyone she was 21 and made her get tattoo
By KTRK News Staff
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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man is accused of telling a 12-year-old sex crime victim to tell everyone she was 21 and made her get a tattoo so people wouldn’t think she was underage, ABC13 learned from court records on Tuesday.
Orlando Reyes Soto is charged with sexual assault of a child after a strange series of events.
ABC13 first learned of Soto in November, when police spotted a 12-year-old girl, who had been reported as a runaway by her family, with a man at a Valero gas station on MLK Boulevard and Bellarbor.
Authorities feared she was being trafficked.
When officers got out of their vehicles, the suspect turned on his car and took off, sparking a chase that ended on Longwood Garden Way in a neighborhood near Highway 288 and West Orem.
Houston police’s helicopter pilot assisted in the the pursuit and saw people running from the car and into a house.
People detained at the home said they didn’t recognize the pair or the suspect’s Chrysler 300.
Police didn’t find Soto or the girl.
On Tuesday, ABC13 learned the child was found safe and had been reunited with her family.
Soto was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.
According to investigators, the girl had been living with Soto.
The suspect allegedly instructed her to tell everyone she was 21, making her get a tattoo with the year 2003 on her leg, thinking that would make the story about her being 21 more believable.
ABC13 has checked, and so far, doesn’t see any charges for Soto tied to the November chase.
He remains in jail.
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