A Burlington man was arrested Friday in Chapel Hill on a raft of child-sex charges tied to separate prosecutions in Durham and Orange counties, with judges in both jurisdictions set to tackle the question of bail on Wednesday, according to court paperwork.
Authorities identified the suspect as 64-year-old Saul Antonio Sosa of Burlington. Court filings show he faces charges in connection with incidents in 2018 and 2019. Orange County documents list three counts of felony indecent liberties related to a Jan. 14, 2018 incident, while Durham County filings outline multiple alleged crimes from Feb. 15, 2019, including statutory-sex and indecent-liberties charges involving children who were 6 and 9 years old at the time. Warrants in the Orange County case were issued July 6 and in Durham earlier this week, and Sosa was taken into custody in Chapel Hill and is being held in Orange County, according to The News & Observer.
What the charges mean
Under North Carolina law, “taking indecent liberties with children” is a criminal offense that applies when an adult takes “immoral, improper, or indecent liberties” with a person under 16. That crime is classified as a Class F felony. More serious statutory sexual-offense charges involving very young victims fall under Article 7B of Chapter 14 and carry harsher penalties. The full legal language appears in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1 and § 14-27.28.
Court schedule and custody
Court records indicate that judges in both Durham and Orange counties are scheduled to consider bail across the three cases on Wednesday, and Sosa remains in Orange County custody ahead of those hearings. The filings reviewed by prosecutors show warrants were issued in Orange County on July 6 and in Durham this week, and that Chapel Hill police arrested Sosa on Friday. Those details are laid out in court documents reviewed by The News & Observer.
What happens next
The prosecutions are still at an early stage. Prosecutors must bring the charges before the courts, and judges will set pretrial conditions, including bail, during the upcoming hearings. As in all criminal cases, the accused is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
