OAN’s Abril Elfi
5:53 PM – Friday, September 22, 2023
Luis Sanchez, a “sex attacker,” was released on a $1 bond due to prosecutors missing the deadline to indict him.
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On Thursday, the 25-year-old man who had given a 16-year-old alcohol, waited for her to pass out and raped as well as impregnated her, was granted release where he will be sent to a shelter on house arrest.
Sanchez had been in custody since May of this year and was charged with felony of sexual assault of a child.
According to the state of Texas, prosecutors are required by law to acquire an indictment within 90 days of a person being detained. If this does not happen in time, the suspect has to be given a “reasonable or personal recognizance bond.”
The press reported that since Sanchez was not indicted in time, his attorney filed a motion to get the court to reduce his bond amount.
Since a recognizance bond is one that a suspect can afford, they held the bond at one dollar.
That motion was then granted by Judge Kathrine Thomas in the 184th court.
Reportedly, the incident between the attacker and the teen happened in April of 2022. Three months after the alleged rape by Sanchez, the teenage girl discovered she was pregnant. Her mother drove her to the hospital where the victim informed her that “Luis drugged and raped [her].”
According to the victim, the offender offered her vodka before she passed out and woke up next to Sanchez naked. Once the girl revealed what happened, her mother reached out to local authorities to help find Sanchez.
The teen’s mother spoke to the press after the release stating how they are terrified about the situation.
“We feel blindsided, because we took comfort in the fact that he was initially granted a $75,000 bond, because we could sleep at night knowing he could not make that bond,” she said. “We were at peace knowing he would not be released. Now, my daughter is terrified he may try to come and find her. No amount of apologies will fix that.”
Trial Attorney Steve Shellist said that missing an indictment deadline is not “unusual.”
“These DA’s have hundreds, some have thousands of cases on their plate, as do the courts, and things fall through the cracks, sometimes they’re just not ready,” Shellist said. “I don’t think it’s an intentional thing, but I think it happens more often than people think.”
Another investigation into a separate sexual attack involving Sanchez and the same victim is also reportedly underway in Fort Bend County, Texas.
Sanchez is due back in court in November.
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