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McAllen Daycare Employee Faces More Sexual Abuse Allegations
Posted on Apr 27, 2010
A former employee of Sunshine Academy daycare center in McAllen, Texas, has been accused of sexual daycare abuse – for the fourth time in the last six years. In this case, two sister who were interviewed by investigators say that the man touched them inappropriately while at the daycare. The daycare owner insists that she fired the man a year before the incident occurred.
Twenty-seven-year-old Francisco Lopez Jr. has been arrested based on the charges of the two girls – who are now 13 years old. In their testimony, they say that Lopez touched them inappropriately on their legs, buttocks, and chests both in the daycare and outside of the building. They also said that the man had a bad reputation and other girls had warned them to stay away. They also said Lopez threatened their families if they should tell. The sexually abused girls have not been identified in order to protect their privacy.
Lopez was also accused of sexual abuse while a caregiver at McAllen in 2005 and 2006. In the former case, a Hidalgo County jury found him innocent. The other accuser dropped the charges. In both cases, however, Sunshine Academy’s director Esther Rodriguez offered private settlements to the families. Rodriguez says that Lopez has not worked for her for many years and doesn’t see how cases keep emerging.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services moved to close the Texas daycare in 2007, but it will remain open until a ruling has been made in the TX sexual abuse case at hand.
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