PROVO, Utah – A Guatemalan national who illegally entered the U.S. was arrested by law enforcement authorities in Utah on Monday and charged with raping an 11-year-old girl, according to county records.
Jonathan Estuardo Ruano Garcia, 26, is being held in the Utah County Jail, reported KSL News. As a result of the investigation and subsequent arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer on him, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office told The Daily Wire.
The investigation began Sunday when the Provo Police Department dispatched officers to an apartment complex regarding a report of an 11-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted.
The girl’s mother arrived home about 11:15 p.m. “and as she approached her front door, observed an adult male leaving her apartment,” a police booking report said, KSL News reported. “The mother said the male made eye contact but then quickly walked away.”
The woman hurried inside knowing that her daughter was home alone. She found the youngster “completely naked in the hallway of the apartment. The mother asked the victim what happened. The 11-year-old girl told her mother that a male she met on the internet came to the apartment and had sex with her,” the report indicates.
Investigators used the girl’s social media history to identify Ruano Garcia as the perpetrator. Authorities quickly located him at his residence.
“Ruano Garcia admitted that he put his penis in her vagina and had sex with the 11 year old for 20-30 min,” the police report said, and claimed he believed the girl was 13 or 14 (as if that matters).
After meeting at a soccer game, the two began chatting online. “Ruano Garcia admitted that the chats he had with the victim turned sexual and he sent naked photos of his penis on multiple occasions,” the police report said.
Ruano Garcia was taken into custody and charged with three felonies: the rape of a child, enticing a minor, and forgery.
The forgery charges stemmed from a bogus social security card that was found in his possession.
“In his wallet was a social security card that did not appear to be authentic. When asked about the social security card Ruano Garcia admitted that it was fake and that he paid money for it when he came to the United States from his county,” police wrote.
The sheriff’s office told The Daily Wire it notifies ICE anytime an illegal immigrant is held in jail.
The Utah County prosecutor’s office said Ruano Garcia’s first court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
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