Mayor in San Antonio suburb charged with more sex offenses

POTEET, Texas (AP) _ The mayor of a South Texas town who is already required to register as a sex offender has been indicted on three new charges related to indecency with a child.

An Atascosa County grand jury Monday indicted Mayor Lino Donato on one count each of aggravated sexual assault, indecency with a child by contact, and attempted indecency with a child by contact, all felony offenses, according to the district clerk's office.

Donato was being held at the Atascosa County Jail on a $200,000 bond Tuesday evening, jail officials said. The San Antonio Express-News reported the story on its Web site Tuesday.

Donato pleaded guilty in October to indecency counts involving two girls but is now appealing. The plea cut short a trial on accusations that he exposed himself to two girls and improperly touched one of them.

He is required to stay more than 1,000 feet from places where children congregate. That means he must also stay out of city hall because it within 200 feet of the Atascosa Boxing Club and Youth Center, City Attorney Frank Garza has said previously.

Donato's term expires in May 2009. He has said previously that he would not resign as head of Poteet, a town of about 3,500 residents located 30 miles south of San Antonio.