A Lubbock police investigation into a missing 16-year-old girl resulted in the arrests of five men, four of whom are accused of drugging and sexually assaulting her for about two weeks during which they moved her between apartments.
Edward Austin Hipolito, 22, Alexander Hipolito, 31, Jaime Alcario Mendoza, 43, and Christian Alvarez, 29, were arrested Feb. 19 and booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center, where they remain.
Frank Ceccaci Maples, 44, was arrested Tuesday and is also being held at the Lubbock County jail.
Edward and Alexander Hipolito face a second-degree felony count of sexual assault of a child. Their bonds are set at $150,000 each.
Mendoza and Alvarez each face first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual assault. Their bonds are set at $250,000 each.
Maples is charged with a count of sexual assault of a child and his bond is set at $200,000.
Police investigate Lubbock teen’s disappearance
Their charges stem from a Lubbock police investigation that began Jan. 29, a day after police officials sent out a public plea for help finding a 16-year-old girl last seen at an apartment complex in the 2900 block of 45th Street.
The girl was found at a pet store in the 5700 block of 82nd Street and taken to Covenant Women’s and Children’s Emergency Room where she made an outcry of sexual assault.
However, investigators were unable to immediately speak to the girl as she required medical treatment and mental health support.
Investigators ultimately spoke with the girl about five days later, during which she said during the time she was missing she was kept in a drugged state while the five men sexually assaulted her, according to an arrest warrant.
The girl told investigators she was at Alvarez’s home in the Boston Creek Apartments where he lived with his mother, 61-year-old Vivian Alvarez, who was later arrested on a misdemeanor charge of harboring a runaway.
The girl said Alvarez gave her methamphetamine which they both used while he raped her multiple times.
She said at some point Mendoza drove her to a residence at the Indiana Village Apartments in the 700 block of North Indiana Avenue, where she encountered Edward and Alexander Hipolito.
She told investigators that she was kept high on methamphetamine, cocaine and alcohol while she was there, during which Alexander Hipolito smoked methamphetamine with her and forced her to perform a sex act while Edward Austin Hipolito recorded it on his phone before sexually assaulting her the same way.
Meanwhile, she said Mendoza took her to another apartment unit in the same complex where he raped her.
She said she was released a day after Alvarez learned that she’d been reported missing.
She said Alvarez reportedly assaulted her with a metal rod and threatened to kill her and “wrap her body up where she would never be found.”
However, she said Alvarez raped her one more time before driving her to the pet store the next day and letting her out of his vehicle.
During her interview with police, the girl told detectives that Maple sexually assaulted her twice, once on Jan. 3 and then four days later, after speaking with him on a social media site.
Investigators spoke with a witness who saw the girl going into Maple’s bedroom, according to an arrest warrant.
Investigators obtained warrants for the men’s arrest on Feb. 19.
During his interview with investigators, Alexander Hipolito reportedly said Mendoza was the one who brought the girl to his apartment. He reportedly told investigators that Mendoza confessed to sexually abusing the girl in the other apartment.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Documents say 5 men sexually assaulted missing Lubbock teen for weeks
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
