THE LONE STAR FUGITIVE TASK FORCE ANNOUNCES THE ARREST OF
JUAN RAMON MORALES

Midland/Odessa – In March of 2003, Juan Morales kidnapped two 5 year old twin girls in Odessa, Texas and violently sexually assaulted them both. When the girls were found, they could not give any identifiable information on their attacker except a basic description. Morales then kidnapped a 7 year old girl from a church, and was chased and caught by citizens who turned him over to police. Morales was soon released on bond for the kidnapping charge, and then police learned that his DNA matched the attacker of the sexual assault of the twins. Felony warrants were issued in State court to arrest Morales for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and Aggravated Kidnapping. The Odessa Police Department requested assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service in locating and apprehending Morales. Upon adoption of the fugitive case, it was granted Major Case status, and USMS Midland (now part of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force) applied for and received a federal warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.

USMS investigators learned that Morales had fled to Mexico. When they were able to determine his location, investigators assisted the Ector County District Attorney’s office in applying for a provisional warrant with the Office of International Affairs (OIA). Mexican authorities located and arrested Morales, and found him to be in possession of a firearm. He was later convicted of the firearm charge, and sentenced to serve time in Mexico with the U.S. charges still pending.

On January, 19, 2007, the government of Mexico extradited 15 individuals to the United States in Houston, Texas, and Morales was one of them. He will be returned back to Ector County in the next week to face charges for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child (2 counts), and Aggravated Kidnapping.