Serial child groper added to sex offender registry after ABC13 report
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A day after an ABC13 report uncovering why a serial child groper didn't appear on the state sex offender registry, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirms he's now been added.
Video shown above is from that original report.
Carlos Ayala Morales is now listed as "low risk" offender on the registry. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to four counts of indecency with a child and served a seven-year prison sentence.
ABC13 began asking questions Tuesday after Houston police publicly identified Ayala Morales as the man wanted for groping a 7-year-old girl in The Heights on Jan. 27.
At that time, Ayala Morales did not appear on the state sex offender registry, as required by law.
RELATED: Suspect was allowed to walk free without sex offender registration despite serving 7 years in prison
Eyewitness News confirmed with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that it usually notifies local authorities about the release of sex offenders so they can ensure they register.
But TDCJ says it didn't in Ayala Morales' case because they released him to ICE. At the time, he was facing a federal immigration charge which was dropped five days after his release from prison.
SEE ALSO: Man wanted for recent child groping in Woodland Heights has lengthy history of similar crimes
The Harris County Sheriff's Office confirmed it was never notified by TDCJ. If they had been, they said they'd have likely issued a warrant for Ayala Morales' when he failed to register.
DPS initially didn't respond to ABC13's requests for comment, which began Tuesday. Friday, a day after ABC13's report, they sent the following statement: "Upon being notified that Carlos Jose Ayala Morales did not appear on the Sex Offender Registry, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) took immediate action to review his records and documented his duty to register. His listing can now be found here. It appears Ayala Morales' registration was submitted in February 2024, but was diverted due to human error and never processed. Again, the notification for his duty to register has now been processed, and he can be found on the Texas Public Sex Offender website."
ABC13 has asked DPS for clarification about which agency initially submitted Ayala Morales' registration. We're also waiting on a respond from the Justice Department about why the immigration case was dropped.
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