A 32-year-old Universal City man is facing a first-degree felony charge after investigators say he admitted during a police interview to having sexual contact with a six-month-old infant who was in his care. Jesse Daniel Skaggs was arrested on a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact, and authorities say he indicated he wanted to turn himself in.
According to KABB, Skaggs allegedly disclosed the abuse to the infant's mother before his arrest, and investigators said he made additional statements during questioning. A recorded phone conversation reportedly matched details investigators had already gathered in the case, according to the same report. As reported by KENS 5, the infant was in Skaggs's care at the time of the alleged abuse, and he made additional statements to investigators beyond his initial admission.
How the Charge Could Escalate to a First-Degree Felony
Indecency with a child by sexual contact is generally classified under Texas law as a second-degree felony, defined by Penal Code Section 21.11 as touching a child's breasts, genitals, or anus with intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire, according to legal guidance published by Ned Barnett Law, which carries a punishment range of 2 to 20 years in prison. But Skaggs faces a first-degree felony charge, which under Penal Code Section 12.32 carries a punishment range of 5 to 99 years or life imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, along with a possible fine of up to $10,000, per the Texas Constitution and Statutes.
Universal City is an incorporated municipality in northeast Bexar County that maintains its own municipal police department to investigate local crimes before suspects are booked into county detention facilities, according to the Universal City Police Department. Under Texas legal precedent, mistake of age is not a valid defense to an indecency with a child charge, meaning prosecutors are not required to prove an accused offender knew the victim's exact age, according to the Whalen Law Office.
A County Grappling With a Surge in Child Abuse Cases
The case against Skaggs comes amid what local officials describe as a troubling rise in child abuse outcomes across Bexar County. State and local data reported in April showed the county recorded approximately 4,800 confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in 2025, with nearly half of the victims under the age of five, according to Texas Public Radio. The same report noted that 13 children died as a result of abuse or neglect in the county in 2025, more than double the five abuse-related fatalities recorded in 2024.
Confirmed cases of child sexual abuse in Bexar County surpassed physical abuse cases for the first time in 25 years during 2021 and 2022, reaching 620 confirmed sexual abuse cases in 2022, according to the child advocacy organization ChildSafe. The Bexar County Criminal District Attorney's Office maintains a specialized Child Abuse Unit and Civil Child Abuse and Neglect Section dedicated to prosecuting child victim crimes, per the Bexar County District Attorney's Office.
Support Available for the Family
The Bexar County District Attorney's Victim Assistance Division offers crisis intervention, help navigating the legal process, and assistance applying to the Crime Victims' Compensation fund for victims and non-offending family members, according to the district attorney's office. It remains unclear whether Skaggs's case has been formally accepted for prosecution by the office's Child Abuse Unit, though the office's specialized division exists specifically to handle cases like this one moving through Bexar County's court system.
Skaggs's arrest adds to a string of recent felony cases out of Universal City, including a March arrest of a local band teacher on similar child indecency charges. The case remains active, and no additional details about Skaggs's court proceedings have been released.
