Man Accused of Sexually Abusing Two Underage Girls Back in Jail

 

A San Angelo man accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls last year was arrested on Thursday, July 10, after failing to appear at a plea hearing scheduled on the previous day.

Jose Arturo Pena, 23, was indicted in January of this year for sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault of a child for incidents alleged to have occurred on July 29, 2013.

According to the indictment filed with the court, the victim of the sexual assault, which included sexual contact, was under the age of 14 when the assault took place. The victim of the aggravated sexual assault was under 17 years of age, the indictment says.

Following written complaints filed by SAPD Officer Kelly Lajoie two warrants were issued for Pena’s arrest on Aug. 7-8, 2013. Twenty days later, on Aug. 27, 2013, Pena was arrested and booked into the Tom Green County Jail where he remained until March 9, 2014.

While in the county jail, Pena was appointed an attorney by the court, who then in February filed a motion for a psychological evaluation meant to evaluate Pena’s sanity at the time of the alleged offense.

“On the basis of opportunities to observe  and converse with the defendant and on the basis of counsel’s knowledge of defendant’s past history of mental health issues, counsel…has reason to believe that there is a serious question as to whether defendant was insane at the time of the offense alleged in this cause,” the motion reads.

Two forensic psychological evaluations were then conducted to check both Pena’s sanity and whether or not he is competent enough to stand trial. Both evaluations were conducted in March 2013 shortly after he was released from jail.

Initially, a jury trial was set for September 22, 2014, however Pena decided to enter a plea rather than go to trial. When ha failed to show up to his plea hearing on July 9, 2014, he was arrested and taken back to jail, where he is being held for a sum of $200,000 on two surety bonds.

Sexual assault of a child is a second-degree felony punishable by 2-20 years confinement and an optional fine not to exceed $10k. Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a first-degree felony punishable by 5-99 years confinement and an optional fine not to exceed $10k. 

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This is a disgrace to people who actually do have psychological problems. Now we have temporary insanity claims for sexual assaults. Maybe the problem is drug abuse? He obviously has something mentally wrong to sexually assault minors and children. Take him off the street.
First of all, repeat sexual offenders need to be neutered. I am dead serious. Human rights nothing. They care nothing for the rights of their victims and if they can't control themselves then they need to not have the hormones that cause their urges. The insanity thing is crap. It is an excuse to get out of trouble. A way to manipulate the system. Further, if his insanity made him do it, freaking neuter him! Finally, what is with this "optional $10K fine" thing? Whose option is it, what makes $10K enough, and where does the money go?
Did Pena sexually assault these girls or did he have consenting sex with them? Was he in a relationship with them at the time? A man can be 19 years old and have sex with his 16-year-old girlfriend and the state calls it sexual assault. Before we seek to castrate Pena, we should have more information. There are some 13-year-old girls that dress and look like they're 21 and sleep with any guy who gives them attention. I'm not implying they deserve to be sexually assaulted, but maybe they played a part in this as well? I only say this because the state of Texas does not offer specificity as to what sexual assault of a child includes.
jdgt, Tue, 07/15/2014 - 16:37
The assault occured in 2013... making him 22. His youngest victim wasn't yet 14. His oldest victim wasn't yet 17.
I'm sorry JD, but the legal term of sexual assault is not conclusively clear. As I mentioned earlier, a 19-year-old can have consenting sex with his or her 16-year-old boyfriend or girlfriend, but the law reports it as a sexual assault of a child. This cat is probably by all means guilty, but did he sexually assault them or were they willing participants. The reason I believe this is important to know is so that we, in the public forum, can persecute his intent accordingly.
jdgt, Tue, 07/15/2014 - 17:51
I've got 3 daughters. I will admit that if my children were age 16 or older and willingly had sex with a grown man - I'd be whipping their ass, not charging him with sexual assault. However, if my child is under the age of 14 - then in MY mind, the older person (who in his case would have been 22) should have been the responsible party, regardless of consent... Responsible enough to know that it was wrong to have sex with a younger child. Responsible enough to ask for proof of age of said child. My guess is, he probably didn't hang out with her at her home... with her parents... (which is something else I'd require my children to do before I accept sexual activity from them!) So yeah... no doubts here... he might not have sexually assaulted both of them (just based on age...) But he definitely sexually assaulted one of them.
The public (in AND out of the penitentiary) uses very strange logic when judging the character and suitable punishments of criminals. People convicted of assault and robbery are more likely to get the benefit of the doubt with talks of "rehab" and "second chances" than this guy here. Murderers are revered in prison, but let a guy get tossed in there for having sex with his underage girlfriend and suddenly the general population of common street scum turns into vigilante superheroes and human rights advocates. I'm not implying that Stephanie's suggestion of neutering isn't in order. People who are deemed criminally negligent and/or overall useless human beings SHOULD be sterilized (IMO). It's just odd the way public opinion can be swayed one way or the other, depending on whether someone commits a crime with a weapon or their genitals. Let's remember however that we live in a state where a public school teacher could spend an entire career angrily striking children without anyone blinking an eye....just so long as they don't go on a date with them.
I agree with your comment. And I also agree that he needs to be punished, after all, he should have known better. However, we still do not know if the 14-year-old was a willing participant. I remember when I was in high school, there was an eighth grade girl who was very attractive and could have easily passed for 17 or 18. She dated at least 2 boys in the senior class that year. She was a very aggressive young lady and did not take NO very easily. Many of the people who reply to this article have already judged Pena as the lowest type of human scum alive. And perhaps he is, or was he tempted by a "sure" deal? We don't know for sure.

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