Foster parent charged in assaults on girls in his care
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 22, 2003
TARPON SPRINGS - A former Tarpon Springs foster parent faces capital sexual battery charges after he was accused of assaulting two girls younger than 12 in his care.
Jorge A. Gonzalez, 53, is accused of assaulting the girls several times during their placement with him from mid 2001 to mid 2002, authorities said Sunday.
The girls were no longer in Gonzalez's care when the allegations were made, Tarpon Springs police Sgt. Jeffrey P. Young said.
"They are no longer in the foster care system," he said.
Gonzalez, who had moved from his home on Gainesway Drive to Taylor, Texas, was extradited to Florida this month to face the charges, which carry a possible life sentence. Gonzalez was being held Sunday in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.
Young said he did not know when Gonzalez moved to Texas or when he was brought back to Florida. Detective Barbara Templeton located Gonzalez to Texas after one of the girls made the accusations, Young said.
Gonzalez, who was a foster parent for about 10 years, was not a foster parent in Texas, Young said.
Gonzalez has no prior arrests, he said, but police will check Gonzalez's record as a foster parent with the state Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to determine whether more allegations exist.
