Carlos Jose Ayala

A man has been accused of sexually assaulting at least 10 girls in the Houston area in the past three years.

Carlos Jose Ayala has been charged with four counts of indecency with a child and one count of felony evading, though he's suspected in 10 incidents and investigators believe there may be other victims, according to Houston police.

The 35-year-old construction worker is expected in court Tuesday, The Houston Chronicle reports.

Police arrested Ayala after one of the department's gang units launched an investigation in January.

They looked into the sexual assault of girls ranging in age from seven to 15 years old, as they walked to and from school in the Denver Harbor area, near East Interstate Highway 10 to the east of downtown.

Each of the victims gave similar descriptions of the suspect and vehicle, a 2007 dark blue Toyota sedan, police said.

In the assaults in Houston, Ayala would allegedly come up behind the victims and inappropriately touch them through their clothing.

In one incident, Ayala is accused of trying to abduct a 7-year-old girl as she walked home with her 9-year-old brother.

Ayala drove by them several times before parking near them, the children told police. He then got out, opened the vehicle and walked towards the girl. Ayala assaulted her and tried to put her in the car until her brother yelled. He then drove away.

On Feb. 17, officers attempted a traffic stop on Ayala while conducting surveillance, but he refused and led them on a short chase, police said.

He was then taken into custody without incident.

Ayala admitted to a sexual assault incident in October last year and was positively identified by victims in at least three other incidents, police said.