Luis Ortiz

A Tyler man accused of posing as a teenager and attempting to use social media to lure a 12-year-old girl could have a trial next April.

Luis Ortiz, 22, has been charged with six offenses, including indecency with a child (sexual contact), online solicitation of a minor, two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, promoting, producing or directing a sexual performance of a child under 14 years old and tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intention to impair.

He was originally arrested for online solicitation and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child on April 13, 2020. He remains in the Smith County Jail with bonds totaling $1.35 million.

On Friday, the defense and prosecution said during a hearing that Ortiz was under investigation for other allegations after his indictments. The prosecution said more time is needed to go over the evidence in connection with Ortiz’s charges.

Ortiz’s attorney said a plea deal was offered a few weeks ago. Judge Austin Reeve Jackson of the 114th District Court proposed a possible trial date of April 18, 2022.

The next hearing regarding Ortiz’s charges will be held on Sept. 17 this year.

According to an arrest affidavit, a 13-year-old girl told school officials in January a 17-year-old, who she knew as Luis, came to her house the previous night. A Snapchat message between the girl and Ortiz shows that he was trying to have sex with her.

She told Ortiz she was 12 years old at the time, while Ortiz, who was 22, said he was a 17-year-old high school student. According to the affidavit, Ortiz began texting her last December, asking her inappropriate questions and making requests that were sexual in nature.

Investigators went to the high school and discovered he was not a current student. He attended the school years earlier, the affidavit stated.

When officers received records of his Snapchat account, several inappropriate photos of girls were found. When first contacted by police at his house, Ortiz said he didn’t have social media accounts. He claimed his Facebook account was hacked and he deleted his Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts, the affidavit read.

He confessed to sending nude photos with several people, but he could not remember if he sent them to this girl or if she sent any to him. During the course of the investigation, Ortiz told detectives the victim was not the only young girl he had been in contact with, according to the affidavit.