Sad Santa Letter Nets Alleged Perv

DECEMBER 16--Meet Andres Cantu.

The Texas man is facing sexual abuse charges after a 9-year-old relative wrote a letter to Santa Claus wishing that the 55-year-old man would stop assaulting her. Police learned of the alleged molestation after the girl, as part of a school exercise, last week wrote a 'wish list' to Santa Claus, according to a criminal complaint, a copy of which you'll find here.

A counselor at Cesar Chavez Elementary School told investigators that the child 'had turned in a wish list to Santa wishing for' her relative to 'stop touching her and her sister.' The girl was then interviewed by child welfare officials and 'stated that the offense occurred at her house in her bedroom while everybody else was asleep.' The child said that the abuse occurred over a four-year period.

Cantu was charged today with an additional sex abuse count for allegedly molesting the girl's older sister. The second child, age 10, told investigators that Cantu improperly touched her while she was 'in her bedroom while she was working on her homework.'

Cantu, pictured in a Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office mug shot, is jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond. If convicted of the molestation charges, he could face a maximum of 99 years in prison. (3 pages)