Five Men Indicted on Multiple Counts of Physical and Sexual Child Abuse

A Tom Green County grand jury met for three days this month, returning 85 indictments, many of which include multiple counts of child sexual abuse and physical child abuse. Below are the stories of those accused of sexually and physically abusing children.

Since the 100^th Day of School

Larry Paul Ramos used to work as a referee for a variety of youth sports teams. When a little girl under the age of 14 reported to Officer Cathy Delaughter that Ramos had sexually abused her “since the 100^th day of school”, an investigation was launched that landed Ramos in the Tom Green County Jail, charged with continual sexual abuse of a child under 14.

The victim’s outcry was followed up with a forensic interview, in which the child relayed dates and details of the abuse. After that interview, SAPD Detective Bobby Elrod spoke with Ramos, who admitted to having access to the girl during the prescribed timeframe, but denied all allegations of abuse. He further stated the child had asked him to touch her inappropriately.

Ramos was booked into the county jail on Feb. 9 and released on a $30,000 bond two days later, but when his former stepdaughter, Victoria*, saw his mugshot below the headline “Man Accused of Repeatedly Molesting Child Under 14 Denies Allegations”, she came forward with a story of abuse spanning nine years that put Ramos back in jail on April 23. He hasn’t emerged since.

On July 9, a Tom Green County grand jury handed down two indictments against Ramos, one for each of his victims.

For the allegations of abuse made by the child earlier this year, Ramos is facing four charges, including two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of second-degree indecency with a child sexual contact and one count of third-degree indecency with a child by exposure. Each of the offenses is alleged to have taken place between Feb. 11, 2015 and March 12, 2015.

For the allegations made by Victoria, Ramos is facing two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child sexual contact. Those offenses are alleged to have taken place between July 1, 1997 and May 1, 2009. He remains in custody on all of these charges.

Six Wrongs Don’t Make a Right

Seth Sterling Albright was 27 years old when the crimes he is accused of committing allegedly took place. His victim, under 17.

According to a five page indictment listing six individual felony counts, Albright allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage girl in various ways on Oct. 18, 2014, leading to four indictments for sexual assault of a child, all of which have been enhanced from second to first-degree felonies. In addition, Albright is accused of exposing himself to and touching his victim inappropriately, and has also been indicted on indecency with a child sexual contact, enhanced to a first-degree felony, and indecency with a child by exposure, enhanced to a second-degree felony.

All of Albright’s charges have been enhanced due to a Nov. 28, 2007 conviction for second-degree felony burglary of a habitation.

Albright was booked into the Tom Green County Jail on a warrant for his six-count indictment on Thursday, July 16, but bonded out the same day after posting the $25,000 surety bond. A restriction on his bond is that he is to have no contact with his victim.

Sexual Contact

Four second-degree felonies is what the grand jury handed 23-year-old Jonathan Portillo on July 9 in a four-count indictment. The first time offender is accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl in various on April 3, 2015.

The charges, indecency with a child sexual contact, all come with a punishment range of two to 20 years in the penitentiary and a fine of up to $10,000.

Portillo has yet to be arrested on the charges, but a warrant has been issued and a judge has set his bond amount at $25,000. He is to have no contact with the victim.

Duty to Register

Two men, both convicted of sexual assault of a child, have been indicted for failing to register as a sex offender after officers with the SAPD and TGCSO went to their individual residences and neither man was found.

According to court records, Charles E. Morton, Jr., 40, was indicted in January 1998, when he was 23, for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. On July 14, 1998, Morton pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to five years deferred adjudication probation. Bryan Clayton prosecuted the case; Randol Stout served as the defense.

Morton violated his probation over the course of the next year, records indicate, by taking a job at a haunted house and loitering around schools and other places children congregate. On Sept. 8, 1999, Morton’s probation was revoked and he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

On June 3, SAPD Detective Adrian Castro went to verify Morton’s listed residence at America’s Best Value Inn and learned from business records that Morton had moved out in early May without notifying police. Morton was located and jailed a month later on July 3. He remains in the county jail, held against a $10,000 bond.

 

Another man, 55-year-old Curtis Edward Lee, was indicted in June 2003, when he was 43, for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Lee pled guilty to the offense on June 2, 2004 and was placed on eight years deferred adjudication probation. On Feb. 17, 2005, Lee’s probation was revoked after he got caught forging a check and hanging around an underage girl without permission. He was sentenced to six years.

On June 3, Deputy Sheriff Syed Shah attempted to verify Lee’s address at a trailer park in the 8000 block of Sunflower, but found his lot empty. Deputy Shah learned that Lee had moved out the previous day and failed to notify law enforcement of his new address. He had also been convicted of failing to register in February 2005. 

A Juice Bottle

A little girl was not even 7 months old on May 7, 2015, when San Angelo Police were called to a residence in the unit block of E. 41^st St. The baby was unconscious and had sustained a severe head injury.

According to a complaint written by Detective Bobby Elrod, 18-year-old Daniel Enriquez was the only person in the room with the baby when the incident occurred, an incident he explained by telling the detective that the baby had dropped a bottle of juice on its head. A short time later, Enriquez said he noticed that she was not acting right.

“The Defendant admitted that he checked the victim’s head for injuries with his hands,” Detective Elrod submitted. “The Defendant later admitted to pressing on the victim’s head with his hands and stated that he may have applied too much pressure and caused the injury.”

The baby girl was transported to Cook’s Hospital in Fort Worth for treatment, where she received a full body scan. After the scan, a Child Protective Services Investigator contacted Detective Elrod and relayed to him that the victim had sustained two skull fractures, a fractured humerus and a fractured femur.

“The Defendant’s explanation of how the victim received the injuries did not match the type of injuries discovered during the medical scans,” Elrod wrote.

On July 9, Enriquez was indicted on one count of injury to a child with intentional serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony. He has been in jail since May 7 and is being held in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

“Already Stopped Crying”

A baby in diapers fell from a loveseat onto the tile floor three feet below. That was the explanation 30-year-old Brandon Michael Gutierrez gave police after the child was found to have a lacerated liver, adrenal gland and kidney, plus swelling in the C-spine on Sept. 15, when officers responded to Shannon Medical Center’s ER.

According to a complaint written by Detective Kelly Lajoie, Gutierrez has been in custody of the baby since roughly 6 p.m. that evening, and when the child had been dropped off, there had been no injuries.

At 6:04 p.m., Gutierrez sent a message to the child’s mother stating, “already stopped crying”. The baby was listed as a family member to Gutierrez in the complaint.

A doctor from Shannon Medical Center later told the detective that if the baby had not been treated, it could have died from the injuries sustained. The doctor also stated that the injuries on the baby’s neck were caused by the head going back and forth, similar to whiplash. The bruising on the child’s abdomen was caused by impact with an unknown blunt object, Lajoie wrote.

Gutierrez was indicted on multiple felonies on June 30, when a Tom Green County grand jury found that he had injured the child in an unknown manner and by unknown means in various different ways.

The 30-year-old has been charged with first-degree injury to a child with intentional serious bodily injury; second-degree injury to a child with reckless serious bodily injury; third-degree injury to a child with intentional bodily injury; state jail felony injury to a child criminal negligence and state jail injury to a child reckless bodily injury.

To view the complete list of indictments this term, click here.