A Texas man is accused of regularly sexually abusing a teenage girl in a Hellertown basement over the course of two months.

Santos Ezequiel Gonzalez Zamora, 33, of Houston, who has connections to Central America, is accused of misdemeanor indecent assault of a minor, felony corruption of minors, involuntary deviant sexual contact with a minor, and felony statutory sexual assault of a child over the age of eleven.

On July 31, a warrant for Gonzalez Zamora’s arrest was submitted. He was allegedly trying to leave the country when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested him at a Houston airport on August 10.

Before Gonzalez Zamora was extradited to Pennsylvania, he was first detained at the Harris County jail in Houston. According to court documents, District Judge Alan Roger Mege denied him bail when he was arraigned on Tuesday because he posed an exceptional flight risk.

Gonzalez Zamora stayed at Northampton County Prison on Wednesday after being transported there. He did not immediately have a counsel listed in court records.

At a press conference held Wednesday afternoon at the Easton courtroom, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta and Hellertown Police Chief James Baitinger revealed the accusations against Gonzalez Zamora.

Gonzalez Zamora, a Nicaraguan native, is thought to have arrived in the United States two years ago and just started working as an interstate truck driver, according to Baratta. According to the DA, the employment brought him from the company’s Houston base to Pennsylvania.

Although no victims have been located in the nearby Lehigh Valley, investigators think there may be more, according to Baratta.

The DA said during the conference, “Our hearts go out to the family and our hearts go out to this young lady because a (teen) should not be a victim of what is apparent to us as a sexual predator.” We also think that we wouldn’t be shocked if there were additional victims elsewhere, considering the type of grooming and the time frame in which we were able to create it.

Gonzalez Zamora was under investigation by Hellertown police on July 27 after the victim’s mother claimed her daughter was chatting with an adult guy she had met on social media, according to authorities.

In order to trace the purported chats, investigators confiscated the girl’s phone as well as her mother’s other phone. According to court documents, the texts contained pictures of the girl’s genitalia along with a picture of someone else’s hand.

Additionally, the victim’s mother revealed that, according to police, Gonzalez Zamora reportedly handed the victim $500 through a cash app transaction on June 6.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were able to link Gonzalez Zamora to the incidents by looking through a lot of documents and photos. The evidence and witness statements against a defendant are laid forth in this court record.

On July 29, investigators seized several devices after obtaining search warrants. After that, the gadgets were examined at Lehigh County’s Officer David M. Petzold Digital Forensics Laboratory.

According to court documents, investigators then obtained several digital photos and films from the lab showing Gonzalez Zamora and the girl engaging in sexual acts.

According to authorities, all of the crimes occurred at the victim’s Hellertown residence between May 23 and July 25.

Gonzalez Zamora is expected to return to court for a preliminary hearing before Mege on September 2 at 10:30 a.m. After that, a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial before the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas.

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You can contact Pamela Sroka-Holzmann at [email protected].