In a dramatic development in the Sherin Mathews case, the adoptee father of the child, Wesley Mathews, was arrested on Monday.
The arrest was made on Monday afternoon, after Wesley voluntarily walked into the police station and asked to speak with the detectives. According to the police, Wesley provided an alternate statement of events from those which he had previously given regarding Sherin's disappearance.
Wesley, who was previously charged for abandoning and endangering the child, has now been charged with injury to a child.
"This afternoon, Wesley Mathews was arrested and charged with Injury to a Child (TPC 22.04), a first-degree felony punishable by life or from 5 to 99 years in prison. Mr. Mathews voluntarily arrived at the Richardson Police Station with his attorney and asked to speak with detectives. He provided an alternate statement of events from those which he had given previously, regarding the disappearance of Sherin," RIchardson police department said in a press statement.
Wesley is currently in the Richardson City Jail and his bond has been set at $1,000,000, the police said.
The charge of injury to the child carries the possibility of a life sentence in prison, the police said. The police added that there is possibility of additional arrests or modified charges, as more evidence is secured.
However, spokesperson for the police department withheld details of Wesley's statement, saying that it was an ongoing investigation.
According to multiple reports, there are no charges against Sini Mathews, Sherin's mother.
Meanwhile, a day after the police recovered a body of a small child from a culvert near the Mathews' home, the police is yet to positively identify the child.
Earlier on Monday, both Wesley and his wife Sini Mathews appeared in court separately, in a case related to the custody of their elder daughter, who was removed by the Child Protection Services (CPS) soon after Sherin's disappearance. Posting the case for November 13, the court said that the elder child will continue to remain in foster care.
(Photo by TL Langford/ Twitter)
Three-year-old Sherin Mathews was reported missing on October 7. Wesley had then told the police that he sent the child out of home at 3am as punishment for not drinking her milk, and that she disappeared after 15 minutes.