After child abuse victims proved suspect was lying about being too ill to attend court, judge took drastic action

Adults who say a Texas man sexually assaulted them when they were children are trying to prove he’s faking being too sick to go to court.

Ruben Castro Jr., 65, was charged in 2020 with sexually assaulting a child. The alleged crimes happened in 2007... Continue reading here ▶

But his case has been repeatedly delayed because he claims to have serious health problems, including a bad stomach ulcer and three strokes, which he said made him too weak for surgery.

A prosecutor recently told a judge that doctors were just trying to make Castro comfortable before he dies because his condition was so bad.

But Castro’s accusers didn’t believe it. They gathered videos of him out and about, looking much healthier than he claimed.

One video shows him working on his deck, and another shows him outside a hotel next to a U-Haul truck. They sent these videos to the Guadalupe County Attorney’s Office.

One of the alleged victims, his step-granddaughter Sierra Rios, now 29, said they felt forced to become “detectives” to get justice. She said Castro would sneak into her room at night and assault her. She’s upset that he seems to be manipulating the system.

Rios said that victims are often afraid to speak up because they have to retell their stories so many times. She wants Castro and everyone else to know that she won’t give up.

Their efforts seem to have worked. A judge scheduled a hearing for January 31st. After a news story about the videos aired, the Guadalupe County Community Supervision and Corrections Department asked the judge to raise Castro’s bail.

He had been released on a $100,000 bond after his arrest in 2020, but he stopped reporting to the department in September 2022 and hasn’t provided any medical proof to support his claims of being too sick to attend court.

The judge agreed, raising his bail to $500,000 and issuing a warrant for his arrest. He had not been arrested as of Thursday morning.

Castro’s lawyer said she learned about the videos from the prosecutors. She said she couldn’t comment on the case but that she would stop representing a client who wasn’t honest with her or lied to the court. She has since withdrawn from the case.