Anita Miller
Authorities have made three arrests in connection with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl that occurred in Buda — the suspect and two people believed to have helped him attempt to escape justice.
Jesus Rocha-Alvarez, 33, of Buda was arrested in Austin at approximately 5:45 a.m. Sunday by the Repeat Offender’s Unit of the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with sexual assault of a child and is in Hays County Jail. At the time of this posting, he had not been before a judge to set bond.
Also taken into custody were Michael Joseph Villarreal, 43, who allegedly gave Rocha-Alvarez a place to stay following the Nov. 4 assault and transported him to Austin, and Jesus Fernandez-Alvarez, 58, the suspect’s father, who “had been organizing his son’s flight from justice,” according to a Hays County Sheriff’s Office press release.
According to Deputy Stephen Traeger of the HCSO, Rocha-Alvarez was arrested at an apartment complex in the 300 block of East Slaughter Lane and was taken into custody without incident.
The alleged sexual assault occurred at a residence in Buda at which both the victim and suspect were staying. Rocha-Alvarez had fled the scene by the time deputies arrived but they knew who he was and that he was driving a 2007 black BMW sedan and the vehicle’s license plate number.
Traeger said the manhunt, which lasted for nearly a week, “was made more difficult after deputies learned that Rocha-Alvarez had received aid and support in his efforts to evade arrest.”
He went on to say that on Nov. 7, the black BMW was located at a residence in the 1100 block of Haleys Way in Buda — a residence owned by Villarreal.
Fernandez-Alvarez was charged with hindering apprehension and is also still waiting to go before a judge.
