Family fears retaliation from alleged child molester after judge slashes bail

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Published Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017 | 5:35 p.m.

The mother of a young girl authorities allege was sexually assaulted by the woman’s ex-fiancé last year is dismayed: “If he does get out, what could he do to us?” asked Crystal Padua. “Will he knock on the door? Will he show up?”

Against prosecutors’ objection last week, a judge ordered Henry Altamirano’s bail to be significantly reduced from $1 million to $50,000, according to Clark County District Court logs.

The 45-year-old has been jailed since Jan. 17, 2016, when the incidents were reported. But now, if he posts bail, he has the opportunity to wait for his June trial under house arrest.

Altamirano, who is facing two counts of sexual assault of a minor and seven counts of lewdness with a child under 14, remains at the Clark County Detention Center. But Padua fears it’s only a matter of time until he can get out.

During an interview with detectives, Altamirano admitted to the allegations, which occurred over several weeks, according to his Metro Police arrest report.

When they asked him if he was attracted to the 9-year-old, Altamirano said it was more of a “heat of the moment type of thing,” police said.

And when the detectives further pressed him and asked if during the “heat of the moment,” he was sexually attracted to her, Altamirano responded, “in a weird kind of way — yes.”

He’s since pleaded not guilty, court logs show.

Prior to a court appearance last week, Altamirano’s bail had climbed from $250,000 to $1 million after it was alleged he made a phone call from jail to Padua last summer even though the court had imposed a no-contact order, documents show. Padua noted that he further broke the order by sending her four letters in the days and weeks after the call.

“How could she possibly lower it (the bail) from such a high amount to something that he’s going to pay pennies to get out, and possibly able to break free from his ankle monitor when he’s on house arrest?” Padua said last week about District Judge Stefany Miley.

Although the victim’s family considers Altamirano a danger, a Nevada pretrial risk assessment evaluation that Miley cited in making her bail-reduction decision, considers him to be in the low-risk category to re-offend, according to court logs.

The assessment is a nine-item questionnaire that ranks the risk level through a point system: If a suspect scores zero to three points, he or she is considered a low-risk re-offender; four to six, moderate; and a score of seven or above deems the person a higher risk, according to the document. Mental health, disability, gang affiliation and flight risk are also taken into consideration.

The questionnaire focuses, among other items, on suspects’ previous arrests, substance abuse and employment histories, as well as in their residential status.

The court’s decision has the family feeling unnerved, Padua said.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Amy Ferreira said last week that prosecutors argued against the bail reduction because they deem Altamirano a danger to the community, especially children. She added that he is a flight risk due to the serious nature of the charges and the likelihood that he will be convicted.

Pending new developments, Altamirano would next need to appear in court for the beginning of his trial scheduled for June 5.

The allegations

Padua trusted Altamirano, whom she was engaged to, with her children, she said. After all, they had a son together, had been in a relationship couple for three years, and lived as a family for about 19 of those months.

Padua found it odd when her daughter began “acting differently” over several weeks. So on Jan. 17, 2016, she asked her what was wrong.

And that’s when the child told her that Altamirano had been touching her inappropriately and sexually assaulting her, police said. Padua immediately contacted authorities.

The girl repeated what she’d said earlier to a child protective services specialist, and the child’s eyes “appeared to be welling up with tears,” police said. The specialist told detectives the child also appeared to be fearful when talking about Altamirano.

Before detectives could tell Altamirano what the child had said, he told a similar story, admitting to the allegations, according to the arrest report. When pressed about what caused his recent behavior to turn sexual toward the child, even though he’d been dating Padua for three years, he said it took him this long because, “it was almost like a relationship,” too, a detective wrote on the report.

Padua was shocked that Altamirano “could be such a monster,” she said. He was someone she thought she could trust with her children. “He’s a monster who shouldn’t be out on the street.”

“I trusted having a baby with him,” she said. “I’m absolutely in shock. I was heartbroken, I was embarrassed, I was saddened that he could do this to somebody, but most importantly, his stepdaughter.”

The family’s fears

Padua fears that once he’s released on bail, Altamirano could break his ankle monitor and try to harm her daughter or take their 2-year-old son.

She worried about his mental state after spending more than a year in jail. Padua said the family also is concerned that Altamirano may flee the country and not come back to face trial, since he has family in Mexico.

The ordeal has been difficult on her children and her, Padua said. Their son is left without a father, her older sons who she said loved him, now have to know what happened. The family has had multiple therapy sessions, she said.

“We need to try to get back to normal, if there is a normal after this,” Padua said. “Just knowing my daughter will forever have to live with these memories is the worst part of all.”

Just because the allegations and charges are severe, it doesn't automatically make a person violent or a flight risk, Altamirano's attorney, Jonathan MacArthur, said Tuesday. He noted that his client had no history of violence or a prior criminal history.