A Hillsborough County man is behind bars for sexually assaulting a woman on her walk home, and detectives believe more victims may be out there.
"I'm never going to see my kids again, that's all I remember thinking."
The victim, a mother of 5 from Tampa, is still dealing with the trauma of the attack. We're not revealing her name because she is the victim of a sex crime.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, she was walking home around 1 a.m. from 7-Eleven January 27. The victim says she already dialed 9-1-1 in her phone, as a precaution while walking alone on Webb Drive near West Hillsborough Avenue.
But she says a stranger grabbed her from behind, threw her to the ground and threatened her with a knife.
"As he's holding my mouth closed, you know, telling me that he has a knife and that if I do anything crazy or scream that he was going to kill me," the victim told ABC Action News.
HCSO arrested Leoncio Tejas two days later, charging him with sexual assault with a deadly weapon.
Investigators say Tejas tried the same thing in 2015 in the same area. But in that case, the woman got away. HCSO did charge Tejas with robbery because they caught him with the victim's bicycle.
Deputies are now concerned Tejas could have hurt more women. That's why this most recent victim shared her story with ABC Action News, hoping it will encourage anyone with information to come forward.
"He didn't have the right to do what he did to me," she said. "Don't be scared and call the cops. They do help, they do help."
Anyone with additional information with regard to Tejas is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200.
