KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A former Kaufman County Sheriff's Office deputy was arrested last week and charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, according to county jail records.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A former Kaufman County Sheriff's Office deputy was arrested last week and charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, according to county jail records.
28-year-old Hepitasio Perea was a patrol deputy for the department for several years before his promotion to the Criminal Investigations Division late last year. He was arrested August 2, 2018, after a months-long investigation that began earlier this year when a 12-year-old female made an outcry of two prior sexual assaults.
The 12-year-old female, according to a Texas Rangers arrest warrant affidavit obtained by inForney.com, alleges Perea sexually assaulted her when she was between the approximate ages of 4 and 5 and again when she was between the ages of 7 and 8.
Both alleged incidents involved a manner of grooming where Perea allegedly gave the child candy for her silence. One incident occurred during a game of hide and seek with other children.
The child's outcry came after she attempted to commit suicide by taking a pill and cutting herself, according to the affidavit.
A similar outcry was made in Mexico involving a second alleged victim, states the affidavit.
Perea resigned earlier this year after the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office began investigation the allegations, according to department spokesperson Jolie Stewart. Due to the nature of the charges, Stewart says the investigation was turned over to the Texas Rangers.
"During the investigation, Hepitasio has been interviewed for purposes of the criminal investigation one time during pre-test and post-test interviews in a polygraph examination," states the affidavit. "Deception was indicated during the test.
"Although he failed the test, Hepitasio maintained he had not sexually assaulted the victim," it states.
Perea was booked into the Kaufman County Jail and held on a $100,000 bond on the charge for continuous sexual assault of a child under the age of 14. He was released less than an hour later after posting bond.