A Henderson County man is facing an indecent liberties with a child charge and an assault by strangulation charge after deputies say a child was unable to scream and struggled to breathe during the assault. Luis Alegrias Callejas, 37, was taken into custody and booked at the Henderson County Detention Center, according to authorities.
According to WYFF 4, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office reported that a man is facing multiple charges while deputies investigate accusations of an adult sexually assaulting a child. Per the station, Callejas was taken into custody on Tuesday and is being held at the Henderson County Detention Center.
Details of the alleged assault are laid out in arrest warrants cited by WSPA, which reported that the victim was unable to scream and struggled to breathe during the assault. Deputies charged Callejas with indecent liberties with a child and assault by strangulation.
Investigation Opened Last Month
The station’s report notes that the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit began investigating the case on Sept. 22, roughly five weeks before Callejas was booked. The timeline laid out in the same account does not specify what prompted deputies to open the inquiry that day.
Henderson County deputies said the incident remains under investigation and that no further information will be released yet, according to WYFF 4. The station’s report similarly indicates the investigation remains ongoing, with no additional details disclosed publicly at this time.
What North Carolina Law Says
Under North Carolina law, a person commits indecent liberties with a child if they are at least 16 and at least five years older than the child and willfully take or attempt to take any immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with a child under the age of 16 for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire, according to North Carolina General Assembly statute G.S. 14-202.1. The statute defines the specific conduct prosecutors must prove in indecent liberties cases like this one.
No information about the child’s age, the child’s relationship to Callejas, a bond amount, or any court appearance has been made public. Deputies have indicated the case remains active, and Hoodline will update this story if the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office releases further details.
