A 40-year-old man wanted by Lubbock police in connection with a child sexual assault case surrendered Tuesday to the Lubbock County Detention Center, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Police officials sent out a plea for the public’s help in finding Jonathan Hernandez, who is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.
“Do not approach him as he is known to be violent,” according to a statement from the Lubbock police department.
Hernandez, who was indicted by a Lubbock County grand jury on July 15, is accused of sexually assaulting a girl younger than 14 years old.
His charge stems from a Lubbock police investigation that began on April 13, 2024, after a Lubbock police officer, responding to a central Lubbock home, met with a teenage girl who said Hernandez sexually assaulted her in the month of February 2021, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The girl met with a forensic interviewer a week later and made consistent statements, the affidavit states.
Meanwhile, investigators spoke with Hernandez on the phone, during which he denied the allegations and agreed to take a lie detector test, the affidavit states.
However, Hernandez never showed up and detectives presented the case to the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, the affidavit states.
Hernandez remains held at the Lubbock County Detention Center. His bond is set at $150,000.
Court records do not show that he is being represented by an attorney at present.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock police say man wanted in child sexual assault case surrenders