Published: October 05, 2006 01:42 pm      

Jeffersonville suspect caught in Louisville

Woman says Jose L. Zayas molested her 8-year-old daughter

Jeffersonville police on Monday captured an accused child molester who has been on the run for the last seven months.

Jose L. Zayas, 26, was found and arrested in Louisville at a Mexican restaurant along the 4700 block of Bardstown Road where he had been working.

Detective Charlie Thompson of the Jeffersonville Police Department said Zayas had been using a false name, which had made it significantly harder for police to locate him. Police also believed him to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Zayas was arrested in March for allegedly molesting his girlfriend’s 8-year-old daughter. The molestation — the girl’s mother told police — had been going on for some time before the girl came forward.

After being held at the Clark County Jail for less than three weeks, Zayas posted a bond of $2,500 — an amount Thompson called “not near enough” — and was placed on home incarceration until his trial.

Weeks later, he cut the transmitter from his ankle and fled his Clarksville apartment. Thompson said police have been looking for him ever since.

Zayas is now waiting to be extradited back to Clark County where he will face three counts of child molestation, all Class A felonies, a battery charge and, possibly, escape.