José Cremades, a 65-year-old Cuban resident of Hialeah, returned to prison this Tuesday after being arrested by the Police of that city, accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl inside a Lowe's store, according to a report by Local 10.
The report reveals that the accused has a criminal record in Miami-Dade County spanning more than two decades.
The incident occurred the previous Saturday at the establishment located at 1650 West 37th St., where the minor had gone with her mother to the children's workshop regularly organized by the chain. While the woman was paying at the register, the girl wandered away from her side.
Later, the little girl told her that "the old man who had been next to her at Lowe's had touched her" after "lifting her skirt."
On Tuesday, during a forensic interview at the Kristi House Children's Advocacy Center in Miami-Dade —a key institution for child abuse cases in the county— the girl stated that Cremades "used his fingers to reach underneath her dress and touch her... several times," according to the police report.
The surveillance cameras at the location strengthen the accusation: the footage shows Cremades crouched next to a merchandise display where the girl was, moments before she ran toward her mother. The same video shows him walking behind two other minors as they moved through the store.
The prosecutors presented three new cases against him this Wednesday: two charges of petty theft and one of lewd and lascivious behavior against a minor. The Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer denied him bail and ordered him to stay away from both the Lowe's in Hialeah and the victim.
This Thursday, Cremades remained detained at the MetroWest Detention Center under a immigration hold from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), indicating that federal authorities consider him deportable.
The accused's criminal record in Miami-Dade spans over twenty years. He was arrested by Hialeah Police in 2002, 2012, and 2016, and by county sheriffs in 2019 and 2022, always for charges of third-degree grand theft.
He was convicted in four of those five cases and sentenced to probation in all of them. His most recent probation period ended on July 25, 2024, just fourteen months before this new arrest.
The current charge of lewd conduct against a four-year-old girl represents a serious escalation compared to his previous record, which was solely focused on property crimes. In Florida, this offense can carry a life sentence when the victim is under 12 years old.
It is not the first time that Cubans with criminal records and deportation orders face new serious charges in Florida, in a context where the federal administration prioritizes the deportation of immigrants with criminal histories.
Lowe's issued a statement noting, "We are doing everything we can to assist local authorities." The felony case for lewd conduct is presided over by Judge Laura A. Stuzin, while the petty theft charges are assigned to Judge Michelle Roth.
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