Man who fled US arrested in 2010 sexual assault, police say

A man accused of sexually assaulting a girl more than 10 years ago was arrested this month after police said he attempted to change his name and moved to Mexico.

Julio Pineda, 45, who was arrested Oct. 1, is charged with two counts of lewdness with a child under 14 and one count of sex assault against a child under 14, according to court records.

A woman brought her daughter to the police in early 2011 to report that the girl had been assaulted in June 2010 when Pineda climbed into her bed while she was sleeping, according to an arrest report released Tuesday by the Metropolitan Police Department.

“(The girl) told detectives that Julio took her shopping the day after the incident and purchased an iPod that he gave to her as a gift, on the way home Julio tried to apologize to (the girl) but she would not acknowledge him,” the report said.

The woman tried to confront Pineda, but he left the home and she hadn’t seen him since, she told police. Officers said in the report they believed he had “possibly fled to Mexico.”

In 2017, the woman told police she had received mail she believed was meant for Pineda that provided an address for him in North Carolina. Officers found a driver’s license for him in North Carolina that almost matched his Nevada license but had a slightly different name.

Pineda was charged in Las Vegas Justice Court in December 2017. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court again Thursday morning.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.