Photo: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
An undocumented migrant from Guatemala was arrested in Florida this past weekend in relation to allegations of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office announced on Monday (May 6).
Marvin Perez Lopez, 20, faces multiple charges including kidnapping to sexually assault a minor, sexual assault of a victim under 12 and resisting an officer and is currently being held without bond. Lopez reportedly confessed to snatching the child outside her Lake Worth, Florida, apartment and forcing her into his van last week, the department confirmed.
The victim's mother reportedly found Lopez attacking the girl when she went looking for her daughter outside their home. Lopez, who lives in the same building as the victim, reportedly fled the scene after the mother banged on the windows of his van and screamed for help.
Palm Beach County deputies were later present at Lopez's home, at which point they spotted him escaping through a back window and fleeing into an alleyway before eventually being arrested on Saturday. Lopez reportedly crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in January, but later surrendered to Border Patrol and was given an immigration court date set for 2027 as an undocumented migrant.
“Here’s a Guatemalan, who came into the country illegally was stopped by the border people released, and made his way to South Florida. And now he commits a crime where he held an 11-year-old girl against her will and sexually assaulted her,” said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw via the New York Post.
“We grabbed him. He’s confessed to the crime. So he’s gonna get tried for a capital crime before he even remotely thinks he’s gonna get deported. He’s gonna do the time here first,” Bradshaw added.