Man arrested for sexual assault in Planet Fitness parking lot

SMITH COUNTY – According to our news partner KETK, a man was arrested for a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Tyler on Thursday, Smith County Jail records show.

The Tyler Police Department began looking into the case on April 16 after they were dispatched to the UT Health ER in Tyler in regard to a sexual assault call they received. Once at the ER, officers reported that they spoke with a nurse who informed them that an underage girl from a group home was brought in by her caregiver and believed to have had sexual relationships with an adult man, an arrest affidavit showed.

While at the ER, the victim’s caregiver informed detectives that the victim had run away on Monday, April 14 and did not return until the morning of April 15. Once the victim returned to the group home, she informed her caregiver that she had sexual intercourse with an unknown man while she was away, according to an arrest affidavit.

Detectives later spoke with the victim about the alleged incident while at the ER. During the discussion, the victim stated that she had left the group home on April 14 and walked to the Walmart across the street from the home, where she encountered a Hispanic man in the parking lot driving a gray truck. According to officials, the victim stated that the man asked her to have sex with him in exchange for money and the two subsequently had sex inside his truck and the victim claimed she was not paid.

On April 17, the victim was taken to the Smith County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) for a medical exam. During the exam, the doctor assigned to the victim stated that the victim was reluctant to discuss the reason for her visit and provided very little information about the incident. The victim did, however, restate that she did have sexual relations with the suspect inside his truck, according to the affidavit.

The victim later had a forensic interview at the CAC on April 22 where she offered more information about what occurred. During the interview, the victim described the suspect as a bald Hispanic male who was wearing a yellow vest. The victim also stated that she could smell marijuana coming from his truck while he stopped to talk to her, according to the affidavit.

Later, the victim said the man picked her up near Jucy’s Tacos before he drove the truck to a convenience store where the affidavit said he bought condoms. Then the man drove the victim to the Planet Fitness parking lot where the victim stated they had sex.

After checking camera footage, detectives were able to identify the suspect’s vehicle as a 2009 Ford F150. Detectives were later able to discover that the truck belonged to Ernesto Lopez-Ramirez, an affidavit revealed.

After reviewing footage from the Wal-Mart and Planet Fitness parking lots on the day of the incident, officers began to believe Ramirez was responsible for sexually assaulting the victim, according to the affidavit.

The footage obtained lined up with the statements the victim made during her forensic interview and a warrant was issued for Ramirez’s arrest. Ramirez was then arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child on Thursday and he’s currently being held at the Smith County Jail.