EDINBURG, TX (AP) -- An attorney for a man accused of molesting his stepdaughters, prompting one to write a letter asking for help from Santa, says the allegations were fabricated to get visas.
Attorney Mauro Barreiro said Andres Enrique Cantu of Pharr also should not face two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a young child because his alleged crime does not meet the criteria for the charge, The Monitor in McAllen reported Saturday.
Pharr police Lt. William Edmundson, citing the sensitive nature of the case, declined to provide a detailed response to Barreiro's assertions.
"We went with the highest charge available," Edmundson said.
On Friday, Barreiro unsuccessfully sought to have his client's $350,000 bond reduced.
"This guy has a perfect record," Barreiro said. "He's not a pedophile."
Police allege that for as long as four years Cantu sexually abused the young sisters in their bedrooms while the girls slept or did their homework.
The 9-year-old's plea to Santa, written in December as a school assignment, launched the investigation and led to the first charge of continuous sexual abuse. Cantu was also accused of abusing the girl's older sister, who was also mentioned in the letter.
Investigators have refused to share the letter to Santa, saying it is evidence in an ongoing investigation. But the charging affidavit described it as "a wish list to Santa" asking that he stop touching her and her sister.
Barreiro said his client was going through a divorce with his wife, who is the mother of the stepchildren he is accused of molesting. Her identity is not disclosed in court records.
The arrest came just weeks after Cantu sought to kick the mother out of her house over their marital problems, Barreiro said.
The attorney contends that Cantu's wife is living here illegally and has been deported numerous times, making her ineligible to receive a visa.
Barreiro maintains that she convinced her children to fabricate the molestation allegations against their stepfather to help the family qualify for special visas available to some crime victims.
Cantu worked for 11 years in the McAllen school district, most recently as a computer lab aide at the Lamar Academy.
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