Vanderburgh prosecutor charges Texas man with molesting child over 10-year period

A Texas man was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on Tuesday night on 12 counts of child molestation and seven counts of sexual battery, some of which allegedly occurred while he lived in Evansville.

Ricardo Sandoval Jr., 35, of Karnes City, Texas, has been accused of sexually molesting a juvenile family member over the course of 10 years both while living in Evansville and then in Karnes City, according to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by the Courier & Press.

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In an interview at Holly's House earlier this year, the family member disclosed details regarding the nature of the alleged sexual assaults, which they said happened on an almost-daily basis: Sandoval would allegedly crush up sleeping pills into their drinks in the evening, force them to watch child pornography and make threats to prevent the child from telling anyone what was happening.

The alleged instances of sexual abuse occurred while the victim was between 6 and 16 years old.

Sandoval is currently being held in Vanderburgh County Jail on $250,000 bond. His initial hearing was at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Vanderburgh Circuit Court.

In total, he faces 19 felony counts of child sexual abuse.

Contact Ray Couture at rcouture@courierpress.com or on Twitter @raybc94

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Vanderburgh prosecutor charges Texas man with child molestation