Convicted sex offender accused of groping young girl added to Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List
Carlos Jose Ayala Morales has served prison time for preying on children and is considered armed and dangerous.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A serial child groper was just added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List.
Carlos Jose Ayala Morales, 43, is the suspect in an attempted groping case out of Woodland Heights last month.
Police say Morales groped a 7-year-old girl on her walk home from school on Jan. 27. He's charged with attempted indecency with a child.
Court records show Morales served seven years in prison for groping children in the Houston area between 2014 and 2017. He was linked to 10 different child groping cases on Houston's east side and charged with four counts of indecency with a child.
READ MORE: Man wanted for recent child groping in Woodland Heights has lengthy history of similar crimes
"He just approached me, like he grabbed me and he like touched me," an eighth-grade McReynolds Middle School student told Eyewitness News in 2017.
Under Texas law, Morales could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for the crimes. However, under the terms of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 7 years.
Morales initially did not appear in the Texas Sex Offender Registry. However, a day after an ABC13 report questioning why he was never registered, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed he'd been added.
Morales is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds. He has tattoos on his abdomen, back, right hand, and both arms.
He's considered armed and dangerous, and authorities warn no one to attempt to apprehend him.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Tipsters must provide information to authorities by calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submitting a web tip through the DPS website, or submitting a tip through Facebook by clicking the "SUBMIT A TIP" link (under the "About" section).
All tips will remain anonymous regardless of how they are submitted.
