Houston man held without bond for sexually mutilating wife

A career criminal was charged with the torture of his 33 year old "wife" and held without bond. Gregory Longoria Jr, 39, was charged with aggravated assault of a family member for holding his estranged wife against her will and torturing her between noon Wednesday, February 16 and 7 AM February 17. 

The 33 year old victim left Longoria and moved back to her parents' house along with her four children to escape the abusive relationship and allegations of cheating. Wednesday, Longoria went to the victim's parnets' house and threatened her with violence if she did not bring the one year old girl she had with him. She left with him and went back to Longoria's apartment.

The victim told investigators Longoria threatened to kill her elderly, disabled parents if she didn’t comply with his demands.The victim said once they arrived at Longoria’s apartment, he told her to undress and took sexually explicit and obscene photos of her.

When he was finished with the camera, the victim told investigators Longoria tied her to the bed and beat her. She said he then used a can of hairspray and a lighter to burn her nipples and vagina. After he burned her, the victim said he ripped one of her nipples off her body.

The victim said Longoria also choked her with a belt and smothered her with a pillow, causing her to lose consciousness. Longoria kept her there from noon Wednesday until 7 a.m. Thursday, deputies said. He then dropped her and the baby off at her parents’ house.

Longoria let her go after she convinced him that she had to go to a job interview that Thursday and that they needed the money. Longoria told her to take a shower and dropped her off at her parents house. Longoria took his daughter and drove around Houston until he was stopped Thursday evening. The victim was driven to Kingwood Medical Center.

Investigators observed burns to the woman's body consistent with her description of what happened. A doctor at Kingwood Medical Center told investigators that the woman will require reconstructive surgery and will suffer permanent disfigurement as a result of the attack, court records show.

During a press conference, Longoria was likened to a mad dog by Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia. "There are rabid dogs in our society — animals. These dogs that think they can get away with dehumanizing any person, but in particular women, will be dealt with. We are proving today that we will hunt those dogs down and put them in their kennels and try to show them the same dignity that they failed to show for a fellow human being...God help me if such an animal were ever to introduce himself to my family."

While the baby was physically unharmed, Lt. Ruben Diaz of the Houston sex crimes unit said "He had the baby asleep on the couch in the next room, probably listening to her own mother's screams for help." After Longoria's arrest Thursday afternoon, Diaz said  "He didn’t even care that we picked him up. When we picked him up, he had a curt attitude. He had a smirk on his face like he didn’t care." The reason the situation lasted so long was because "She was protecting her family more so even than herself - she was tolerating the abuse."

The victim's mother told reporters "At times, I saw her she would just look teary-eyed. I would advise couples not to be quiet but be up front because that’s how a lot of women die."

The emergency protective order prohibits all contact with his victim, including indirect contact or showing up at her workplace. The same no contact conditions were imposed regarding the victim's four children and her parents. Prosecutor Donna Hawkins with the Harris County District Attorney's Office said the order "precludes the defendant from having any contact with the complainant in this case, not going by her residence and not attending her work place either." 

Longoria is charged with a first degree felony "because of three elements: he assaulted a member of his family causing serious bodily injury and utilizing a deadly weapon, which in this case is fire," according to Hawkins.

According to a family member, the victim, who was released from Kingwood Medical Center Monday,  is actually comforting her family members. "We have all been crying, when we come up to her, she just looks at us and says, ‘why are you crying? I am fine, I am strong, if I’m not crying you should not be crying...She is very hopeful about the future. She trusts a lot in God...She's not going to let this person take her down - she's way stronger than that."
 
Longoria has a history of arrests in Harris County dating back to 1989, including convictions for shooting two men, court files show.

In 2005, Longoria was charged with misdemeanor assault of a family member after he was accused of choking another woman identified as his wife with his hands, court records show. A court issued an emergency protection order, and Longoria pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 160 days in jail.

In 1992, he pleaded guilty to an attempted murder, two charges of aggravated assault and felony theft. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on the aggravated assault and theft convictions and granted 10 years probation and deferred adjudication for the attempted murder conviction, court records show.

In September 1991, when Longoria was 20 years old, Bellaire police arrested him for shooting a 21-year-old man four times. Longoria was a passenger in a moving vehicle when he fired the shots, court records show. That man survived, and the incident led to Longoria's conviction for attempted murder.

A month later, Longoria was arrested again, this time for shooting a 20-year-old community college student. That victim also survived.

Longoria has not been formally arraigned yet because arraignment requires a public defender. Numerous public defenders have refused to take him on as a client due to the nature of the charges and allegetions against him. A lawyer is scheduled to be appointed later today.