A 23-year-old Ashe County man is being held without bond after investigators say he sexually assaulted and kidnapped a child in a case that spans two Western North Carolina counties. Josue Reynoso faces charges including first-degree kidnapping, statutory rape of a child less than 15, statutory sex offense with a child less than 15, and indecent liberties with a child, according to the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office says its Special Victims Unit opened an investigation in May 2026 into allegations that a juvenile had been victimized, according to a media release from the Catawba County Sheriff's Office. But court records reviewed by Catawba Valley News & Weather paint a fuller picture than the initial announcement, alleging that Reynoso took the child without parental consent and held the victim in what the warrant describes as involuntary servitude, in addition to the sexual assault allegations. Those specific warrant details were not included in the sheriff's original release.
Alleged Offenses Span Two Months, Two Counties
Court records show the alleged conduct did not happen all at once. Offense dates listed in the warrants point to on or about April 1, 2026, for the Catawba County sex offense charges, and on or about May 1, 2026, for both the Catawba County kidnapping charge and the Ashe County statutory rape counts, as reported by Catawba Valley News & Weather. That timeline suggests the alleged criminal activity stretched across at least two months and crossed county lines before investigators caught up.
The Ashe County Sheriff's Office charged Reynoso with two counts of statutory rape of a child less than 15, tied to conduct alleged to have occurred in that county. Catawba County investigators, meanwhile, pursued the kidnapping and remaining sex offense charges. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office says it appreciates the assistance and cooperation of the Ashe County Sheriff's Office in the case, according to the release, which was authored by Lieutenant Dane Hoyle, the department's public information officer.
Arrest Sequence and Bond Denial
Deputies served an arrest warrant on Reynoso the night of August 10, according to Ashe County court records cited by Catawba Valley News & Weather. The Catawba County warrant followed the next morning, issued August 11 and served roughly 40 minutes later. District Court Judge Robert J. Crumpton denied bond during Reynoso's initial court appearance, according to the same court records. Reynoso is currently held at the Ashe County Sheriff's Office Detention Facility.
A statewide criminal record search conducted by Catawba Valley News & Weather found no prior criminal convictions for Reynoso in North Carolina over the past decade. His only recorded infractions were three speeding citations and an expired registration charge dating back to November 2022. Local radio station WACB 860 AM reports Reynoso is a resident of Glendale Springs, an unincorporated mountain community in Ashe County roughly 60 miles north of Newton, the Catawba County seat — underscoring the distance investigators had to bridge to build the case.
Why No Bond Was Set
Reynoso's continued detention without bond stems from a relatively new state law. Under North Carolina Session Law 2025-93, known as Iryna's Law, which took effect December 1, 2025, judicial officials face strict rebuttable presumptions against setting pretrial bond for violent felonies and registrable child sex offenses. The law strips magistrates of release authority in such cases, shifting the burden to defendants to justify release before a district court judge, according to the North Carolina General Assembly and the UNC School of Government.
The charges themselves carry severe potential penalties. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-27.23 and § 14-27.25, statutory rape of a child under 15 by an adult is a Class B1 felony, carrying a mandatory active prison sentence ranging from 144 months up to life without parole upon conviction, per the North Carolina General Assembly. First-degree kidnapping, charged under General Statute § 14-39, becomes a Class C felony when the victim is sexually assaulted or held in involuntary servitude, carrying a mandatory active sentence of 44 to 231 months.
What Comes Next
Cases at the Class B1 felony level typically take time to resolve. Data from the North Carolina Sentencing Commission shows Class B1 felony cases take a median of 30 months to reach final disposition, with 85 percent resolving through guilty pleas and 15 percent proceeding to a jury trial. That is notably longer than the roughly 10-month median across all felony classes combined. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office says its investigation remains ongoing.
The case follows a broader pattern of multi-county child protection investigations across the Catawba Valley region. Hoodline reported this week that Burke County authorities arrested a Nebo man on 10 felony child sex counts without bond in a separate investigation also involving the Catawba County Sheriff's Office and regional Children's Advocacy Centers. As with all pending criminal matters, the charges against Reynoso remain allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
