FREDERIKSTED — A St. Croix man has been charged with sexually assaulting two children, ages 9 and 15, authorities said.
Maximiliano Valesquez III, 46, of Estate Plessen, was arrested at 7:04 a.m. Tuesday and charged with two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual contact-domestic violence and two counts of child abuse, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Police said a concerned citizen reported the assaults, which occurred in Frederiksted and involved two children who are related to Velasquez.
Virgin Islands Human Services Department employees were notified and took the children to the police station for interviews, where they told police detectives that Velasquez had touched them sexually.
The 15-year-old told investigators she had seen Velasquez assaulting the nine-year-old child, and that “she didn’t tell anyone about the incidents because she is afraid of Mr. Velasquez III,” court records say.
Velasquez, for his part, has denied all of the allegations by the children, court records indicate.
Officers placed Velasquez under arrest. He was held in jail overnight without bail as per the territory’s domestic violence statute.
Bail for Velasquez was set at $15,000 by Superior Court Magistrate Judge Miguel Camacho on Wednesday.