Monterey County Sheriff’s investigators are searching for a 38-year-old man accused of sexually abusing and impregnating his teenage daughter, who is herself wanted on suspicion of murdering the newborn baby she gave birth to earlier this month.
Investigators say Sergio Galvez Perez is the biological father of both the 14-year-old girl and her newborn daughter, whom investigators have called “Baby Angelita.” The girl was 13 when she became pregnant, Monterey County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Andres Rosas said.
Perez is now believed to be hiding the girl from investigators, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities have obtained warrants for his arrest on suspicion of incest, lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, lewd acts with a minor, unlawful sexual intercourse, child concealment and child endangerment.
Sergio Galvez Perez is a member of the band Águila Real y su Ritmo Sabroso. (Monterey County Sheriff)
The 14-year-old, whose name is being withheld because she is a juvenile and an alleged victim of sexual abuse, is wanted on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of her newborn daughter.
“She’s also a victim because of the sexual abuse by her own father,” Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said. “We need to find this 14-year-old child.”
The investigation began Aug. 1 at about 8:30am, when firefighters, emergency medical personnel and sheriff’s deputies responded to the 100 block of Struve Road in north Monterey County after receiving a report of a newborn found alongside the roadway.
The baby was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators later determined that the 14-year-old had given birth alongside the road, placed the newborn on the ground and left the area. A post-mortem forensic examination found signs of traumatic injury, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators have not publicly disclosed the nature of the injuries or other details about how they believe the baby died, citing the ongoing investigation.
The girl’s mother, 36-year-old Ofelia Garcia Ortega of the Castroville/Salinas area, has meanwhile been arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment. She was booked into Monterey County Jail and later released after posting bail.
Rosas said that charge stems in part from investigators’ conclusion that Ortega failed to obtain medical care for her daughter when circumstances should have prompted a reasonable parent to take the girl to a doctor.
Investigators also found four other children living in the family’s home under conditions they considered unsafe, Rosas said.
All of the sexual offense allegations against Perez involve the 14-year-old, Rosas said. He confirmed that investigators believe Perez impregnated his daughter when she was 13 and that DNA or other investigative evidence established that he is also the biological father of Baby Angelita.
The circumstances leave the girl in the unusual position of being both an alleged victim of serious sexual crimes and a suspect in a homicide investigation.
Investigators do not know whether she is voluntarily with Perez.
“She could be willingly with him. She may not be willingly with him,” Rosas said. “She may be with him against her will. … We don’t know that.”
Rosas said investigators consider Perez a serious fugitive facing violent felony allegations and will not know whether the girl is currently in danger until they locate and speak with her.
“You need to turn yourself in to the Monterey County detectives or to a police officer,”
Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto
Authorities do not know where the two are. Rosas said they could still be in the area, elsewhere in the United States or in Mexico. The family has ties to Tierra Blanca in the Mexican state of Guerrero, and investigators believe someone in the local community may know where they are.
Perez is also the primary singer and plays keyboard in the musical group El Águila Real y su Ritmo Sabroso. Investigators released additional images taken from the group’s publicly available music videos because Perez looks significantly different in them and could be recognizable to people who have seen him perform.
Investigators had contact with Perez roughly four weeks ago when he had an unrelated misdemeanor warrant. He was cited and released because investigators had not yet developed probable cause connecting him to the Baby Angelita investigation, Rosas said. The arrest warrants in the current case were obtained later.
Investigators initially had little information to work with after Baby Angelita was discovered. Detectives used automated license plate reader cameras to identify and track a vehicle of interest. Combined with traditional investigative techniques, that information allowed detectives to identify people connected to the case within 53 hours, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Nieto urged Perez to surrender.
“You need to turn yourself in to the Monterey County detectives or to a police officer,” she said.
Anyone who sees Perez should not approach him and should immediately call 911, authorities said.
Anyone with information about Perez or the girl’s whereabouts can contact Monterey County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Nicholas Kennedy at 831.755.3773 or Detective Richard Geng at 831.759.7279. Tips can be made anonymously.
