Chattanooga police announced a second arrest related to potential child abuse at the Chattanooga shelter housing unaccompanied migrant children on Tuesday.
The Chattanooga Police Department is charging Florencia Guadalupe Renderos Morales, 22, with sexual battery by an authority figure. Morales is in custody in Harris County, Texas, and will be extradited to Hamilton County at a later date, according to police.
The alleged victim of Morales is not the same victim connected to the arrest of Randi Duarte, 35, who this month was charged with sexual battery by an authority figure, coercion of a witness and tampering with evidence.
Earlier this month, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services suspended the child care license of the Baptiste Group, the organization that was operating the shelter under a federal contract. The state cited a series of issues related to the facility, including an allegation of child abuse, Duarte’s arrest and a teenage boy who went missing from the shelter in mid-June. All children were moved from the facility June 22.
Last week, the Bapiste Group appealed the state’s decision to revoke the license. A judge has not ruled on the case.