HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The Harris County Sheriff's Office believes there could be more victims after a man was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl after picking her up from school.
The sheriff's office identified the man as Christian Morales, a Montgomery County resident. As of Friday, the 23-year-old was in Montgomery County Jail on an unrelated charge. He would see a judge in that case before being taken to Harris County to face a judge on the sexual assault charge.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Morales used social media to falsely identify himself as a 17-year-old boy and target the 15-year-old girl. In January, he picked her up after school and took her to a wooded area near the San Jacinto River, according to the sheriff. He then forcefully sexually assaulted her, recorded the assault without her knowledge and then took her back to her school, the sheriff said.
A police report was filed and that allowed detectives to execute a search warrant at the Morales' home for possession of child pornography. During this time, Morales allegedly admitted to having more victims, the sheriff said.
"We do believe there is going to be several other victims out there. We do have information to substantiate that.," the sheriff said. "But we need to know who those victims are and that's why we're making this public plea because we want to make sure, number one, that we bring justice to those individuals but others that we may not even know about yet. We believe that this has gone on for a while now. "
The 15-year-old girl Morales is accused of sexually assaulting attended a high school in northern Harris County. The sheriff said Morales may have targeted schools in that area but it's possible he met other victims in different locations.
The sheriff told parents to be "nosy" with their children's social media because Morales utilized the internet to meet his victims. He also told parents to question any markings they see or may have seen on their children.
"This person was very aggressive and forceful, physically in his actions, so if any parents may have spotted any bruising on the upper torso or face or something that was just out of place, that maybe at the point their children didn't want to talk about it, that could be a clue that we are looking for," the sheriff said.
The sheriff called Morales a dangerous predator. He wants anyone who may have been victimized by Morales to call 713-986-3394. If you want to remain anonymous, you call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
Watch the full press conference from HCSO in the video player below: