A Mesa man is accused of raping young girls on multiple occasions nearly two decades ago.
Mesa police report that Tuesday morning they arrested 65-year-old Anthony Chavez Sample.
Two women — who were family friends of Sample — recently came forward accusing Sample of molesting them as children multiple times over a period of years.
The first incident occurred in the late 1990s when the victim was about 5 or 6 years old, court documents said.
The woman said she was left alone while her family went to a function, court documents said. The girl asked to go swimming, but Sample allegedly told her, "she had to do some things with him to let her go swimming."
Police say Sample raped the girl twice a week over the next couple of years.
Later, Sample reportedly turned his attention to the victim’s sister.
He had sex with her to buy his silence when he discovered that she had taken something from her parents, court documents said.
The women decided to come forward now after another family member reported that he had been molested by a different family friend.
Police say Sample has also been the suspect in two unrelated molestations with other neighborhood children in 2009 and in 2014. Charges were not filed in either incident due to insufficient evidence.
He is being held on a $100,000 bond on five counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one charge of sexual abuse.
If you suspect a child is being abused, the Arizona Department of Child Services has resources available to report the issue to a social worker. You can call the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline at 1-888-SOS-CHILD (1-888-767-2445), and will be asked for information about the child, as well as the nature of your concerns. You can also get more information from DCS about reporting abuse or neglect online.
