A man is facing serious charges after police said he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl inside a Dolphin Mall movie theater.
Omar Gregorio Montalvo, 22, was arrested Thursday on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child, and traveling to meet a minor for sex, an arrest report said.
The alleged incident happened back on Feb. 24 at the mall on Northwest 12th Street in Sweetwater.
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According to the report, the girl's stepfather said he'd dropped the victim and her cousin off at CMX Cinemas to see a movie.
Once inside the theater, Montalvo touched the girl inappropriately and made her touch him while watching the movie, the report said.
Montalvo had showed up at the mall in a ski mask, telling the girl he didn't want to be recognized because he was afraid of being jumped by rivals, the report said.
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The incident was later reported to police, who interviewed the girl who told them she'd been communicating with Montalvo for about a month after they met on social media.
Investigators searched the girl's phone and found messages between her and Montalvo from earlier in February, including an exchange where she told him she was 16 and he told her he was 18, the report said.
After the movie theater incident, they discussed the sexual acts that had been performed in the messages, the report said.
Police also found hidden pictures of the girl and Montalvo that had GPS info showing they were taken at Dolphin Mall, the report said.
Surveillance cameras also captured Montalvo at the mall that night, the report said.
Montalvo sent the girl other messages discussing sex acts he wanted them to undertake, the report said.
Police later arrested Montalvo, who gave a full confession, the report said.
Montalvo, of Miami, was booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
It's not the first time Montalvo's had trouble with the law. He was already out on bond after allegedly breaking into the women's locker room at the University of Miami's Hecht Athletic Center back in October, where he allegedly stole a soccer player's book bag.
Sweetwater Police officials said they have a zero tolerance approach for crimes against children and urged parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of social media.
"Social media is a very big thing as we all know nowadays and it’s very important that parents out there are monitoring what their children are doing because information can get passed around so quickly and without even the parents knowing about it," Lt. Jonathan Arche said. "So it’s important that they keep tabs of what’s going on because it can prevent this type of crime in the future from occurring.”
