A 37-year-old man wanted on a felony warrant for indecency with a child surrendered to constable deputies in Central El Paso, but the downtown jail initially refused to book him because of a medical condition, forcing a trip to the hospital before he could be locked up. Jesse Castaneda's warrant carried a $40,000 bond tied to a case the El Paso Police Department filed on March 5, 2026.
According to KTSM 9 News, deputies with the El Paso County Constable's Office for Precinct 3 responded to the 1500 block of Brown Street in Central El Paso after locating Castaneda, who had agreed to a self-surrender arranged by a Precinct 3 sergeant. Castaneda was indicted on the indecency case on August 12, 2026, and the warrant became active on August 28, 2026, per the constable's office.
A Medical Delay Before Booking
Once constable deputies took Castaneda into custody, he was transported to the downtown jail for booking on the outstanding warrant. Jail staff would not accept him because of a medical condition, according to the same account, and he was instead taken to a local hospital for observation, where he remained afterward. The constable's office said it would continue working to bring Castaneda before the court.
Texas jails are required to run health screenings at intake and can turn away arrestees with acute or unmanaged medical conditions until they receive hospital clearance, under Texas Administrative Code § 273.2. That rule is why arresting agencies across the state routinely route ill or injured suspects through an emergency room before they ever reach a cell.
What the Charge Carries
Indecency with a child by sexual contact is a second-degree felony under Texas Penal Code § 21.11(a)(1), punishable by 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction. The offense requires touching with intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire but does not require penetration, which distinguishes it from sexual assault under a separate statute, according to Drehner Law.
A conviction also triggers mandatory lifetime sex offender registration under Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, per the Law Office of Mike Howard. And because Texas eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex offenses through a 2007 amendment, cases like this one can be pursued no matter how much time has passed since the underlying investigation began, the Sims Law Firm notes.
Part of a Broader Warrant Push
Precinct 3, led by Constable Hector Bernal, is one of seven constable precincts in El Paso County that serve civil process and execute criminal warrants, according to Ballotpedia. The office has been active in fieldwork this year; in August 2026, its deputies tracked down and arrested a 25-year-old woman in an East El Paso hotel parking lot after locating a vehicle tied to her outstanding felony warrants, per KFOX-TV.
That enforcement fits a wider pattern across the county. In May 2025, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office launched a multi-agency Joint Warrant Initiative with all constable precincts, including Precinct 3, netting 21 arrests in its first sweep and 14 more the following month, according to KVIA. El Paso police and the sheriff's office also lean on tips submitted through Crime Stoppers of El Paso, a program that has assisted more than 4,700 arrests countywide, as Hoodline has previously reported.
Castaneda's case echoes another recent El Paso arrest Hoodline covered in May 2026, when a 37-year-old man was picked up during a Far East El Paso traffic stop on two outstanding counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact, carrying a $75,000 bond in that case. As with that arrest and others tied to the county's ongoing warrant sweeps, Castaneda's next court date and formal charges have not yet been detailed publicly.
