WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A Wichita Falls man is accused of beating and whipping a 12-year-old boy and exposing himself to an 11-year-old girl in two separate incidents over two days.
Aurelio Maranjo Saldana, 58, of Wichita Falls, faces two felony charges over the two separate incidents, including injury to a child and indecency with a child by exposure.
Saldana was incarcerated in the Wichita County Jail on Monday, January 30, 2023, where he remains on bonds totaling $35,000.
According to arrest affidavits for the two charges against Saldana, the Wichita Falls Police Department was contacted about each offense on January 7, 2023, although the incidents did not occur on the same day.
Police said officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of Giddings Street on 7 January 2023, at around 5.30pm over a possible assault. When they arrived at the scene, they made contact with the victim, who they said was a 12-year-old male.
According to authorities, the victim told police that he and several other youths were on their way to play at Wichita Falls High School, and as they passed a residence on Giddings Street, a male individual came out and claimed that the victim and other young men were throwing stones. at his window.
Authorities said the victim told police the subject, later identified as Saldana, grabbed his arm, slapped him across the face and struck him multiple times with a whip. Officers noted that they observed redness on the victim’s face, wrist and thigh.
Police said when they spoke to Saldana, he admitted hitting the victim because he “disrespected.” Officers seized the whip as evidence, and a WFPD crime scene technician was called to the scene to photograph the victim’s injuries.
Officers said they reviewed photos taken as evidence and observed the redness on the victim’s left cheek in the photos. They also observed a linear red mark on the victim’s right forearm and a large, swollen wound on the back of the upper left thigh.
Police said the wound on the victim’s thigh was linear with the edges having a distinct outline, indicating a traumatic injury.
According to the affidavit, police interviewed a witness to the incident on January 24, 2023. The witness told police he drove into the area of 1800 Giddings Street and observed Saldana use a leather whip to whip the victim in the back of his leg. He said he took photos of the suspect while he was at the scene.
Police examined photos taken by the witness, which showed Saldana in the area near the intersection of Giddings Street and Avenue I, holding what appeared to be a leather whip.
Police said they later spoke to the victim’s mother, who said she and her children know Saldana because they previously lived next door to him on Giddings Street, and that when they returned to Wichita Falls, they stayed with Saldana for about a week.
The victim’s mother told police she never gave Saldana permission to discipline the victim or any of her other children.
In a separate incident, police responded to a call for assistance on January 7, 2023, in which officers were informed by the reporting party that Saldana exposed himself to an 11-year-old woman and that the victim was able to record Saldana.
Police said a forensic interview was conducted with the victim at Patsy’s House Children’s Advocacy Center on Jan. 26, 2023. During the interview, the victim revealed that she previously lived next door to Saldana.
According to the affidavit, the victim said she was sleeping in her room when she was awakened by Saldana pulling down her shorts. She said Saldana left the room and later questioned him about what she was doing.
The victim said Saldana, who he identified by his nickname, “BeBe,” would look in his bedroom window after he showered and dressed, and that he would text her nude photos of himself .
Police said the victim told an interviewer that Saldana continued to call her to her room afterward. You said when you walked into Saldana’s room, you exposed yourself. She said that when she tried to leave, Saldana attempted to grab her arm to try and make her stay.
The victim said that after she was able to leave Saldana’s room, she took her mother’s cell phone and went back to Saldana’s room. She said she was still exposed, so she recorded it with her mother’s cell phone.
Police said they reviewed the video captured on the victim’s mother’s cell phone, which was created on January 5, 2023, at 11:23 pm according to the video’s metadata.
According to the affidavit, police said they observed Saldana in the video exposing herself. They said Saldana can be heard in the video asking “what are you looking for”, and a young female voice replying “nothing” just before the recording ends.
A check of Saldana’s records shows seven arrests on nine charges since 1993, with the most recent crime before the two reported on January 7, 2023, which occurred in 2004.
Saldana was arrested twice in 2004 for drunk driving, once in August and once in November. He was also arrested twice in 1993, for burglary in a home in May and violation of a protective order in September.
Saldana has no previous arrests or convictions for assault or sex-related offenses.
