MEDINA COUNTY, Texas – A foster care parent arrested on allegations of sexual assault remains behind bars on a $500,000 bond in Medina County.
Miguel Briseno, 58, and his wife ran a girls home in Van Ormy and later in Devine.
Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown began looking into the case after a victim came forward claiming Briseno forced her to have sex with him numerous times between 2005 and 2010.
Court documents said the victim gave police the names of other females, who admitted they were assaulted as well.
“I expect there will be more. Females will see this on the air and come forward,” Brown said.
READ MORE: Foster parent accused of sexually assaulting children in Bexar, Medina counties
This is not the first time Brown’s investigators have looked into Briseno’s past. In 2013, a 15-year-old came forward claiming Briseno asked her to have sex with him. Officers interviewed about six to eight girls ages 14 to 16 living in the home at the time, but none claimed abuse.
Briseno was facing a felony soliciting charge, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor assault charge when the teen ran away shortly before the start of the trial. The Medina County District Attorney’s Office settled the case in 2015 when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to six months’ probation with no jail time. Child Protective Services then took away his foster care license.
“Some of them were troubled girls,” Brown said about the girls Briseno had access to. “People felt they didn’t have credibility when they would speak up. I know some of them had been threatened if they said anything.”
Investigators have gone back to interview multiple women who were teens under his care years ago. Brown said the cases become personal when they hear about the allegations the victims make.
“Those out there doing this thinking, ‘I’m going to do this and no one is ever going to know,’ you’re sadly mistaken,” Brown said. “Whenever we get a little whisper about something like that, we’re going to turn every rock and go down every trail there is to prove or disprove it.”
Brown said other people could face charges depending on what additional evidence investigators are able to gather from other victims.
