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San Antonio, Texas Man Convicted of Sexual Assault Now a Fugitive

handcuffs.jpg After Anselmo Rodriguez was found guilty of sexual abuse on two young sisters by a jury in the 186th State District Court in San Antonio, Texas the convicted sex offender Anselmo Rodriguez, 31, who was facing a minimum of 25 years in prison was allowed to leave court that evening and sentencing would begin the following morning. But, Rodriguez skipped out on his bond and cut off his ankle monitoring bracelet on Monday, July 23. The next day the same jury decided in less than 15 minutes to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On Tuesday, Judge Maria Herr read the sentence without Rodriguez present in the courtroom. Both Defense Attorney Libby Wiedermann and Prosecutor Catherine Hayes were in attendance.

Following the verdict on that Monday, Rodriguez was allowed to leave the courthouse. Normally a judge revoked a defendant’s bond once they are convicted, however for unknown reasons Judge Herr failed to do so and the Assistant Bexar County District Attorney failed to request that his bond be revoked. Less than an hour after he reached his house the Bexar County’s Pre-Trial House Arrest Program, the company that maintains the bracelets, was notified that a tamper alert was activated. A search of his house revealed that Rodriguez had fled, but the bracelet that he cut off was recovered. A warrant was issued and a task force was put in charge of finding and apprehending the fugitive. The manhunt has been widened to include all of Texas and Mexico.

According to official documents, the actual date of the offense was November 15, 2010. Rodriguez was taken into custody on January 27, 2011 and charged with continuous sexual abuse against a child, which carries a minimum sentence of 25 years.
The girls were both under the age of 10 when the abuse occurred. During a doctor’s visit one of the girls was discovered to have genital warts, the most common sexually transmitted infection. Rodriguez offered to have a STD test done but there is no approved test to detect if someone is carrying genital human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes genital warts. His attorney maintains that Rodriguez did not know that a test could not be done when he volunteered.

The international manhunt is being conducted by The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force (LSFTF), a United States Marshals Service. LSFTF was contacted by the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office on the evening of Tuesday, July 24. They are charged with bringing Rodriguez back to San Antonio so he can be placed into custody and formally sentenced. Members of the task force include San Antonio Police Department, Bexar and Comal Counties Sheriff’s Departments, Texas San Antonio Independent School District, Bexar Fire Marshals, Bexar District Attorney’s Office, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and United States Marshals Service. Deputy US Marshal Christopher Bozeman does consider Rodriguez to be dangerous and urges the public to contact their local law enforcement with any information.

If you have been arrested or convicted of a crime, contact the Law Office of Dayna L. Jones at (210) 255-8525 to schedule an appointment with the attorney. Calls are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.

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