Man tracked with facial recognition software indicted on indecency with a child in Walmart
A man who Wichita Falls police tracked down with facial recognition software was indicted on a charge of indecency with a child in an incident in a local Walmart, court documents show.
Edward Peter Leon of Friona was being held Monday in the Wichita County Detention Center on a $200,000 bond, according to online jail records.
A Wichita County grand jury handed down an indictment for indecency with a child by sexual contact against Leon, according to the indictment filed Feb. 7.
The offense is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty.
A Wichita Falls police affidavit for an arrest warrant detailed the allegations against Leon.
A mother reported to police on Nov. 22, 2022, that a man inappropriately touched her daughter while she and her children were shopping at the Walmart in the 2700 block of East Central Freeway, according to allegations in the affidavit.
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A man had been following them around the store. They were looking at children's clothes around 8 p.m. The mother was putting something back on a shelf while her kids looked at socks behind her. The man walked by again.
When she turned back to her children, the man dropped his jacket and said, "My bad." Then he walked away. Her daughter told her the man had touched her inappropriately twice. The mother went to find a store employee.
Officers reviewed video of the man, who went into the restrooms about 8:14 p.m. A Walmart asset prevention agent told police he went into the bathroom and waited for the man to leave the stall.
The agent confronted the man, saying, "Did you touch some kids?" The man did not respond although the agent repeated the question. The agent told the man it was time for him to leave the store and escorted him out. The man was driving a black 2005 Chevrolet Silverado.
Officers ran a photo of the man through the Wichita Falls Police Department's facial recognition system and got a match for Leon. They found his Facebook page and the same pickup he drove away from Walmart.
A criminal history search on Leon turned up three charges for criminal sexual contact-minor out of Curry County in New Mexico.
Friona where Leon is from is near the New Mexico-Texas border and is about four hours northwest of Wichita Falls.
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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Facial recognition software leads to man's indictment in Walmart incident
