Sex offender mayor ousted near San Antonio

POTEET, Texas (AP) _ A city council in South Texas on Monday unanimously voted to remove a registered sex offender as mayor, hours after the man was released on bond from jail after being arrested on new child sex charges.

The Poteet City Council declared Mayor Lino Donato's position vacant because he has missed three consecutive council meetings, city attorney Frank Garza said. The vote took 10 minutes, and council members installed the mayor pro-tem to act as mayor until a decision is made on how to replace Donato.

"It is time that the city of Poteet get off the radar scope as being highlighted with problems," Councilman Allen Buck said. "This is an outstanding city."

The Associated Press could not locate a telephone number for Donato. He did not attend the meeting nor return messages left by the San Antonio Express-News, which reported the story on its Web site Monday.

Earlier in the day, Donato was released on $200,000 bond from the Atascosa County Jail. He was arrested last week on child sex charges involving a girl younger than 14. He faces charges of aggravated sexual assault, indecency with a child by contact and attempted indecency with a child by contact.

The new charges are unrelated to the charges Donato pleaded guilty to in October 2007: two counts of indecency by exposure and no contest to one count of indecency by contact. He accepted deferred adjudication and probation and was required to register as a sex offender.

Donato's attorney, Gary Churak, is appealing the first set of charges and said Donato is innocent of the new charges.

Donato's probation requires him to stay more than 1,000 feet from places where children congregate. That means he must also stay out of city hall because it is within 200 feet of the Atascosa Boxing Club and Youth Center. He has said previously that he would not resign. His term expires in May.

Poteet is a town of about 3,500 residents located 30 miles south of San Antonio.