DISTURBING DETAILS: San Angelo Suspect Charged with Continuous S*xual Assault of a Child

SAN ANGELO — A San Angelo man has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a child under the age of 14 on several different occasions.

According to court documents, on January 8, 2023, at about 10:30 a.m., Tom Green County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to a location in San Angelo regarding an indecency with a minor compliant.

A witness stated she observed James Berry, 44, sitting on a bed with the minor victim next to him and Berry was moving his hand in a rubbing motion on the child's body. This witness could not tell if the victim was face up or face down on the bed, but Berry moved his hand away from the girl very quickly when he noticed the witness enter the bedroom. This caused the witness to be suspicious.

The witness left the bedroom and Berry followed behind her. After a short time, the witness went back into the bedroom and asked the girl what part of her body Berry was rubbing. The child stated Berry was rubbing her chest and attempted to push Berry’s hand away, but he kept putting his hand on her.

Investigators arrived on scene and interviewed Berry and when asked, he stated he was rubbing the victim’s back and denied touching the victim’s chest.

The witness was interviewed, and she repeated the same statement as above and added that another incident occurred in November 2019, when she woke up and found Berry kneeling beside the child’s bed at 1:00 a.m. She stated Berry denied anything occurring at the time.

Later that morning, the victim stated that Berry was touching her private areas and this incident was not reported. The witness said she had multiple talks with the girl since and nothing else was reported.

On January 10, 2023, a forensic interview was completed at the San Angelo Child Advocacy Center with the victim. In the interview, the girl stated that Berry was inside her bedroom telling her goodnight and was rubbing her chest.

Using a diagram of a person, the victim marked the chest, legs, and private area as the parts of her body Berry touched. 

The victim stated that between October 2022 and November 2022, Berry allegedly touched the her private areas. Then, the victim stated that Berry assaulted her in April and May of 2020 where she alleged Berry touched her again.

Berry was arrested for continuous sexual abuse of a minor younger than 14 years of age and booked into the Tom Green County Detention Facility on January 17, 2023. He was released on January 19, 2023 on $150,000 bond.