Irving police are warning there could be other victims after a 36-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl.
Investigators said the assault happened at a Metro PCS store in the 1400 block of E. Grauwyler Road while the girl's mother went to an exercise class next door.
Police said the mother is not under investigation for leaving her child in the store because there's no evidence that she knowingly placed her child in harm's way.
Investigators arrested 36-year-old Gerardo Strauss. They believe he took the girl into a back room of the store to sexually assault her.
The girl reported it at school and she said it happened multiple times over the past year.
According to a search warrant, the mother said that Strauss would "watch children while people attended Zumba next door.”
There is no day care offered at the store, nor at the fitness center.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Zumba class was on again Monday evening and NBC 5 saw several kids in class with their parents, who all said they don't let their children out of their sight during class.
"The kids, they should be in there with us,” said Zumba-attendee Maria Mata. “They don't drop them off in here. They were probably outside playing in the parking lot."
Irving police said anyone who may have left their kids alone with Gerardo Strauss should talk to them to be sure this didn't happen to anyone else. Investigators will also be checking the store's surveillance cameras for evidence.
Strauss is under an ICE hold, suggesting he may have been here in the country illegally.
