A man in the U.S. illegally has been charged with assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Florida after police followed DNA evidence that led them to the suspect.
A police report says that the girl was attacked near Okeeheelee Park near Palm Beach County, Florida, on January 2, according to Fox News.
The girl described her attacker as a Hispanic man, around 30 years of age, and who did not speak English.
Investigators eventually arrested Santo Martinez Varela on January 11 and his connection to the case was confirmed with DNA evidence, officials said.
Varela, a 35-year-old Honduran native, had illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 as a “got away” without having had any contact with law enforcement officials before making his way to West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported in a Facebook post.
“To anyone thinking of committing these kind of heinous crimes in Palm Beach County: We will find you,” the sheriff’s department wrote on Facebook. “Justice will be served.”
Varela was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.
On Monday, Detectives said that Varela is also a suspect in at least two other sexual assaults, according to WPTV.
Officials also say that he is a suspect in the attempted robbery of a woman who he threatened with a gun. He also faces charges of robbery with a gun and attempted kidnapping in that case.
Police are asking anyone who might have information about any other crimes to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477) or Detective Viviana Skuza at
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