Undocumented immigrant charged with sexual assault of 11-year-old girl

US News

From Emily Crane

An undocumented migrant released in the United States after crossing the border illegally was arrested in Florida over the weekend for allegedly sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl in his van.

Marvin Perez Lopez, a 20-year-old Guatemala native, allegedly confessed to kidnapping the girl outside her Lake Worth home last week and forcing her into his vehicle, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

The girl’s mother allegedly caught Lopez attacking the girl while she was looking for her daughter outside her home.

After the mother began banging on the van windows and screaming for help, the alleged perpetrator — who lives in the same building as the victim — fled the scene, CBS12 reported.

When sheriff’s officers later went to Lopez’s home, they saw him escape through a back window and into an alley.

He was finally arrested on Saturday and hit with a number of charges, including kidnapping for the purpose of sexually assaulting a minor, sexual assault on a victim under 12 and resisting an officer.

Lopez was at large in the United States after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in early January, the sheriff’s office said.

He turned himself in to Border Patrol, was listed as an undocumented immigrant and was given an immigration court date in 2027, authorities added.

“Here is a Guatemalan who entered the country illegally, was stopped by the released border crossers and made his way to South Florida. And now he is committing a crime by holding an 11-year-old girl against her will and sexually abusing her,” said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

“We caught him. He confessed to the crime. So he’s charged with a capital crime before he even remotely believes he’s going to be deported. He’ll look around here first,” the sheriff added.

“The federal government is harassing the people who live in this country by letting these people come here.”

Lopez is being held without bail in the Palm Beach County Jail.