Orange County authorities have arrested a suspect who is accused of sexually abusing a child who was spending the night at a friend’s house.
Officials from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a release that 43-year-old Reyes Rivera-Zapata was arrested on Friday and charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree statutory sex offense and two counts of indecent liberties with a minor.
“The survivor in this case is a 10-year old who was victimized while spending the night at a friend’s house,” according to law enforcement.
The child victim told another friend about the instance, setting off a series of conversations with that child’s parents, school officials and then law enforcement to begin the investigation.
“The offenses occurred on more than one occasion,” according to the press release.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigator Zachary Baldwin said in the release that the concern for the child is the first priority in a case like this. Law enforcement conducted a Child Medical Exam, according to Badlwin, to “help us minimize the number of times a child is asked to talk about what happened because we know that telling and re-telling about such events causes additional trauma.”
Rivera-Zapata was initially held under a $100,000 bond and was released after a bail agent posted that bond on June 8. He made his first appearance in Orange County Court Monday afternoon and was placed under the supervision of the pre-trial release program, authorities said.
He is due back in court later this month.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at (919) 245-2900 or Investigator Baldwin at (919) 245-2939.
Photo via Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Related Stories
‹

Trump’s Executive Order on Elections Is Far-Reaching. But Will It Actually Stick?President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking broad changes to how elections are run in the U.S. is vast in scope and holds the potential to reorder the voting landscape across the country.

ACLU Sues North Carolina Over Harsher Riot PunishmentsWritten by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Harsher punishments for violent protests in North Carolina are being challenged by a prominent civil rights group, which said in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that several parts of a new anti-riot law are unconstitutional. The North Carolina law was drawn up in response to protests against racial injustice and police […]

US Troops Start Pullout from Along Turkey's Border in SyriaSyria’s Kurds accused the U.S. of turning its back on its allies and risking gains made in the fight against the Islamic State group as American troops began pulling back on Monday from positions in northeastern Syria ahead of an expected Turkish assault. Syrian Kurdish fighters warned that Washington’s abrupt decision to stand aside — […]

States Sue Over Rollback of Child Immigrant ProtectionsNineteen states sued on Monday over the Trump administration’s effort to alter a federal agreement that limits how long immigrant children can be kept in detention. “We wish to protect children from irreparable harm,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said as he announced the lawsuit he is co-leading with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Both […]
![]()
Number of Migrants Waiting at US Border Surges to 40,000The Cameroonian men who share 10 mattresses on the floor of a third-floor apartment above a barber shop walk every morning to the busiest U.S. border crossing with Mexico, hoping against all odds that it will be their lucky day to claim asylum in the United States. Their unlikely bet is that a sympathetic Mexican […]

Congressman Price: Conditions on Border 'Unacceptable,' Impeachment a 'Tough Call'In the eyes of North Carolina Fourth District Congressman David Price, the situation on our nation’s southern border is “much worse” than even just a year ago. “It’s not just that there are more people, although there are more people,” Price said in an interview with WCHL after publishing an article about his visit on […]

Border Official Resigns Amid Uproar Over Migrant ChildrenThe acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection resigned Tuesday amid an uproar over the discovery of migrant children being held in pitiful conditions at one of the agency’s stations in Texas. Acting Commissioner John Sanders’ departure deepened the sense of crisis and added to the rapid turnover inside the agencies responsible for enforcing […]
![]()
A Grim Border Drowning Underlines Peril Facing many MigrantsThe man and his 23-month-old daughter lay face down in shallow water along the bank of the Rio Grande, his black shirt hiked up to his chest with the girl tucked inside. Her arm was draped around his neck suggesting she clung to him in her final moments. The searing photograph of the sad discovery […]

AP Interview: Border Official says Aid Needed to Save LivesWhen 16-year-old Carlos Hernandez Vasquez fell ill in a holding facility at the U.S.-Mexico border, he was diagnosed with the flu and given medication, then sent back to a cell to recuperate on a concrete bench. But Carlos didn’t get better. The Guatemalan migrant died May 20 from flu complications — a glaring sign that […]

Orange County Authorities Arrest Man on Indecent Liberties with a Minor ChargesOrange County authorities have arrested a suspect who is accused of sexually abusing a child who was spending the night at a friend’s house. Officials from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a release that 43-year-old Reyes Rivera-Zapata was arrested on Friday and charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree […]
›