Deputy accused of sexually assaulting 4-year-old, threatening mom with deportation found dead

Jose Nunez was was arrested on suspicion of super aggravated sexual assault of a child on June 16, 2018. Jose Nunez was was arrested on suspicion of super aggravated sexual assault of a child on June 16, 2018. Photo: Bexar County Jail Photo: Bexar County Jail Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close Deputy accused of sexually assaulting 4-year-old, threatening mom with deportation found dead 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

A Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputy accused in June of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old relative and blackmailing her undocumented mother was found dead Monday in his jail cell in Karnes County, according to officials.

Jose Nunez, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff's office who formerly served as a detention officer, was pronounced dead from apparent suicide at about 5:45 a.m. at the Karnes County Detention Center facility.

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The Karnes County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Rangers are conducting an investigation into his death, according to a statement from Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

The investigation into the sexual assault by both the criminal and internal affairs divisions will also continue, Salazar said later on Tuesday.

"This alters things a bit, but it doesn't change our ultimate goal of proving it or disproving it," he said.

According to the sheriff's office, the girl and her mother remain in the U.S. and the mother is in the process of applying for a type of non-immigrant visa for victims of crime or the relatives of crime victims who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to cooperate with investigators.

Salazar said the girl is currently getting access to victim's rights programs, and the sheriff's office's victim rights coordinator, Linda Miranda, has been working with the girl and her mom.

"We owe it to this victim to keep following these leads and trying to prove these allegations," he said. "This is life changing. I don't think anyone would dispute that. We need to make sure she's okay and her mom's okay."

Authorities believe Nunez abused the girl for months, maybe years. Salazar said Nunez was able to conceal his crimes in part because he threatened to have the girl's mother, who had entered the country illegally, deported should she notify authorities of the abuse.

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"Folks like this are creatures of habit and opportunity," Salazar said at a press conference in June. "I don't know that he was purposely targeting the undocumented community. Certainly what was appealing was the vulnerability of that community because they are less apt to report things."

Deputies learned of the assaults after the mother took the girl to a fire station and asked for help. Following an investigation, Nunez was arrested and jailed.

Salazar said Nunez was transferred to the Karnes County Jail the day of his arrest in accordance with a department policy that requires criminally charged sheriff's deputies to be housed in a jail other than Bexar County's.

"That was something I changed," Salazar said. "We don't house them here. It could lead to allegations of favoritism, or it could be a bad situation in which you're guarding these inmates one day and the next you're one of them."

Bexar County currently has a contract with Karnes County that allows them to house up to 100 inmates at the jail for a certain price. The contract allows Bexar County to house more inmates at the Karnes County Jail, but at a higher price.

Nunez was one of only a few Bexar County inmates at the Karnes County Jail, Salazar said.

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Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns