Bail Reform Group Bailed Out Repeat Offender With Recent Elder And Child Sex Abuse Cases

 

A suspect bailed out of the Bexar County Jail despite two recent charges of child sex abuse and elder abuse. It’s the latest case uncovered by News 4 Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila’s investigation into bail reform.

Bexar County has now started posting information on suspects bailed out by Texas Organizing Project, or TOP, the bail reform group Jaie reported on in his first story.

We found what may be the worst case yet of a repeat offender whose bond was reduced so TOP could bail him out.

Texas Organizing Project has bonded out hundreds of inmates from the county jail. The group says these are low level offenders who are poor and shouldn't have to sit in jail awaiting trial because they pose no real threat.

“I would have to say that everyone's entitled to bail," said Laquita Garcia of Texas Organizing Project.

In April of 2020, TOP bonded out Paul Mena who had been arrested on a drug charge.

However, court records show at the time Mena also had an elder abuse charge against him, and a continuous sex abuse of a child case that had just been dismissed two months earlier.

Despite those red flags, a magistrate judge lowered Mena's bond from $2,500 to $500. After TOP bailed him out Mena failed to show up in court and was a fugitive.

Months later the continuous sex abuse of a child case was reopened against him.

Thursday Avila spoke with the judge who lowered Mena's bond, Walden Shelton. When asked about Mena's prior cases Shelton would only say, "I would have had no knowledge of that."

District Attorney Joe Gonzales sent a statement: “Generally speaking, it is our practice not to agree to a bond reduction if there is an issue of public safety, but it is our practice to inform the judge of any relevant information. However, it is ultimately up to a judge to determine what bond is appropriate for a particular case.”

As we reported in our first story, Bexar County has been supplying TOP with a weekly list of inmates to bail out. TOP has performed thousands of dollars’ worth of campaign work for both Sheriff Javier Salazar and District Attorney Gonzales, both of whom support the bail reform efforts.

To see more CLICK HERE.

Video-