Former International soccer player Jorginho James has been released on bond after he was accused of violently attacking his estranged wife, Crystal James, at their 2-year-old daughter’s daycare center.
This isn’t the first time the 30-year-old has been charged with assaulting his wife. The former soccer player got his first felony charge last month, and this latest assault occurred while he was already out on bond, Fox 26 Houston reports.
“He put a belt around my neck, and he strangled me,” his wife reportedly shared about the earlier attack. “He kept me in the room for about an hour, two hours. He put the belt around my neck a second time and this time it was longer.”
Crystal called 911, and Jorginho was arrested, but he was released on bond just two days later.
Upon his release, Crystal was granted a restraining order, and Jorginho was ordered to wear an ankle monitor. However, on August 30, Fox 26 Houston reported that Jorginho violated his protective order and bond conditions.
He allegedly began following her, and while inside their daughter’s daycare center in Friendswood, Texas, Jorginho violently assaulted her on video, striking her at least 8 times.
“As soon as I parked, he jumped into my back seat,” she recounted. “I got out of the car. I went inside my daughter’s daycare, and I called 911. While I’m still on the phone with them, that is when he started hitting me.”
“He punched me eight times,” she continued. “I feel like he wouldn’t have stopped if I wouldn’t have fallen. He already had his arm ready to go a ninth time.”
The alleged attack left Crystal with a concussion, a broken hand, and a broken finger, which may require surgery if it doesn’t heal on its own. She also sustained a bruised back, swollen face, and bruised arms.
A shitty 20k bond. He kidnapped her and restrained her. So many lethality factors as he strangled her with a belt and stalked her to her child’s daycare. I’m sick by the lack of care in this court system. #jorginhojames #houstondynamos #domesticviolence https://t.co/Smmjsf8jYl
— the advocate (@theadvocateOH) September 13, 2024
Jorginho fled the scene, but authorities arrested him in another city. He now faces two additional charges: felony violation of a protective order or bond conditions and misdemeanor assault.
While the DA’s office filed a motion to deny bond, the 174th District Court set it at $20,000, allowing Jorginho to be released on September 9. Crystal reportedly said she received an automated call notifying her of his release on bond, despite this being his second alleged attack.
In her letter, read by an advocacy account on X called HoodNation5, Crystal wrote:
“If anything happens to me, it was him. I need help. He has a lot of people helping him because they don’t know how bad the abuse is. If I don’t speak up, something’s going to happen to me. I am very much afraid.”
She also revealed that their daughter had been severely traumatized by witnessing the attack and pleaded for Jorginho to stay away and focus on bettering himself for his daughter.
“I hope he watches this or somebody he knows watches this, and he realizes that he hurt our daughter more than he hurt me,” she said. “She’s been screaming and crying in her sleep. I just need him to stay away and focus on himself and getting better so he can be a father to our daughter in the future if he gets a chance.”
When Fox 26 Houston contacted Jorginho for comment, his response was, “This is not the right time for me to explain anything.”
