Toddler sexually assaulted in bathroom by former Galleria employee: FBI
HOUSTON - A former Galleria employee was arrested and charged for recording the sexual assault of two toddlers involving at least six other men.
Arthur Hector Fernandez III, 29, is charged with the sexual exploitation of children after the FBI said videos were found on a forum on the dark web by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) and provided to them.
In disturbing and graphic court documents, four videos were described in which two toddler males were seen being sexually assaulted by multiple men in different settings.
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In one specific video, FBI documents say one of the toddler males was seen in what appeared to be a public restroom lying on a changing table being assaulted by one man while Fernandez is allegedly the person recording.
The assault of the second toddler in the other three videos provided by ACCCE was described in court documents and seemed to be during different instances, one of which the child was seen on what appeared to be a changing table. There are different men seen in each of the three videos, with Fernandez being in at least two of them.
The toddlers were later discovered to be between the ages of two and three years old.
According to the FBI, they were able to identify Fernandez through relatives of the two male toddlers who identified the clothes the children were wearing in sanitized images from the videos.
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The relatives of the two toddlers also recognized the silver bracelets seen on one of the man's wrists in the videos, now identified as Fernandez, which were a chain-style bracelet with a dolphin charm and a solid beaded bracelet.
In one of the videos, a pair of white, low-top Converse All-Star shoes were seen on the floor, records state. When FBI Houston conducted a search warrant on the address listed for Fernandez, they found three pairs of white, low-top Converse All-Star shoes, electronic devices that could store child sexual abuse material, and other electronics.
Court documents say the relative of the first toddler had been called into work at the Galleria on her day off but did not have time to find care for the young boy, so she brought him with her to the mall. Fernandez, who also worked at the Galleria Mall at the time, offered to watch the toddler while she worked. This is the only time Fernandez has been alone with the child.
This incident appears to have happened on May 6, 2023, officials say. It is also assumed to have occurred in a bathroom at the Galleria Mall, as court documents state, "The Galleria Mall has public restrooms, private stalls, and changing tables."
The relative of the second toddler described a similar situation where she brought the young boy to work when she couldn't find a babysitter and Fernandez would offer to watch the toddler and walk around the mall with him.
According to the relative, Fernandez also watched the toddler two other times without her present, once in December 2022 and again on Oct. 31, 2023, to go trick-or-treating.
"I think as parents you want to go with your gut, but also as policymakers, people need to start figuring out how do we figure out we have safe environments for our kids so parents don't have to wait on a creepy uncle or a neighbor they think is safe," Dr. Bob Sanborn.
Dr. Bob Sanborn is the President and CEO of the organization Children at Risk
He says parents should look out for certain telltale signs that their child may have been abused.
"Kids, after they’ve been out with someone who you thought you trusted them, they will sort of withdraw. They’ll be more quiet. Look for those changes in your children; bedridden, not eating. All these things are sort of signs that something’s not right with your child. In this case, we’re talking about toddlers. They really couldn’t communicate. They don't know what’s right and wrong," Dr. Sanborn said.