SAN ANTONIO – An officer with the San Antonio Police Department was arrested and charged with a child sex crime.
Officer Juan Ruiz-Carrillo, 47, was arrested Monday night and charged with sexual assault of a child, police Chief William McManus said.
According to an arrest affidavit, a 15-year-old girl spoke out to a youth pastor at her church May 1, saying that Ruiz-Carrillo had been having sex with her and touching her inappropriately for more than a year. The girl told officers she and her family were guests in his home.
The teen also told police that she had made an outcry about a year ago to a different person at her church, who in turn told her parents and confronted Ruiz-Carrillo, the affidavit said. The girl said the alleged abuse then stopped for a while.
The affidavit said that earlier this week, the youth pastor noticed that the teen seemed to be troubled and asked her what was going on. She then made the second outcry and the youth pastor called police.
McManus said that Ruiz-Carrillo called in sick Monday and officers spent "a long time looking for him."
The chief said that the allegations are an "outrage" and that cases like this involving officers are "an embarrassment to the department."
"There is no one in this Police Department that is pleased by this, or happy about this," McManus said. "You know, officers take great pride in their jobs, and no one wants to see an officer who has been convicted or is involved in something like this."
As of noon Tuesday, Ruiz-Carrillo, a patrol officer, was in the Bexar County Jail.
He was placed on paid administrative leave while the case is investigated.
Ruiz-Carrillo has been with SAPD for five years.