Police in Irving are trying to identify any other possible victims of a man accused of continuous sex abuse of a young child.
Averil Drew Cardwell was arrested last year after a woman, now 21 years old, came forward to accuse Cardwell of abusing her from the time she was 3 years old until she was 8 years old.
"That investigation continued, we filed another case in October against Cardwell," said Irving Police Officer Robert Reeves. "We have had four victims come forward dating back from 1986 to 2014. The age range of when they were assaulted were as young as 3 and as old as 16 years of age."
He says Cardwell preyed on kids who were in his neighborhood - but also used technology to find some victims.
"His means of how he would interact with young children would be in the neighborhood, offering to watch kids so that parents could go out. He never had a specific job where he worked with children, but he also tried to locate children on social media," said Reeves. "We have one case where he traveled outside the state to try to meet up with a child he had met on social media."
Reeves is urging parents who knew Cardwell to talk to their kids.
"We want anybody who might have known Cardwell to have those conversations, those individuals may be adults now," he said. "We want them to come forward so those victims can also have their justice by him also being charged with those offenses."
Victims or anyone with information about the case can contact Investigator Padrutt at 972-721-6565 or the Irving Police Department at 972-273-1010.
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