Belton man accused of sexually abusing young children while they slept with him

BELTON, Texas (KWTX) - A Belton man faces two felony charges for alleged sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child after he was accused of sexually assaulting two children while they slept with him in bed.

Gabriel Espino, 31, was arrested by Waco U.S. Marshals in November 2022, and is currently being held on a $200,000 bond in the Bell County Jail on a slew of charges.

According to an affidavit for arrest obtained by KWTX, the Belton Police Department was alerted about the alleged sexual assaults after a victim came forward to report to police how Espino was physically abusive to her and sexually abusing her two children, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old.

The victim claimed, that “sometime around 2020,” she, Espino and the children “were asleep in their bed when she woke up to see Espino exposed an inch away from one of the children’s faces.”

In 2021, Espino allegedly slept in a bed with the 4-year-old. The mother said the child was wearing underwear and pajamas when she went to bead, but in the morning, was found naked in the bed with Espino.

When questioned why she wasn’t wearing clothes, the child allegedly told investigators, “she did wake up without her (underwear) but could not tell because it was a secret.”

The 6-year-old child would further tell investigators that it was only the other child who would wake up without any underwear but did not want to talk about it “because it was a secret.”

Espino was charged in late 2022 with failure to appear in court. He was most recently arrested on March, 3, 2023, on a charge of aggravated assault against a family member.

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