Danbury Police: Two Men Charged in Separate Child-Related Sex Crimes

In two separate cases, Danbury men have been charged following investigations by the Danbury Police Department's Special Victims Unit.

On May 3, 2016, the DPD was notified that 22-year-old Carlos Samaniego-Ortega of Danbury allegedly exposed himself to a 9-year-old girl at a party. Police say that after a warrant for his arrest was issued, Samaniego-Ortega turned himself in to the Danbury Police Department. He was charged with risk of injury to a minor and held on a $75,000 bond.

In an unrelated incident, Danbury police say that 72-year-old Victor Handal of Danbury has been charged with risk of injury to a minor via sexual contact and risk of injury to a minor's morals. The DPD received a complaint on March 11 of this year that Hanbal had touched a 9-year-old female in a sexual manner back in 2010 at a home in Danbury.

Over the course of an investigation by Danbury's Special Victims Unit, the department says that additional information came to light that Victor Handal sent inappropriate text messages to the same female last year, when she was 15-years-old. As a result of the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued, and Handal turned himself into police on Friday (September 16). He was released after posting a $30,000 bond, and is scheduled to appear in court on September 29.