An illegal immigrant from Honduras faces criminal charges after allegedly assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a Florida park this month.
The teen was attacked near Okeeheelee Park on Jan. 2, WPTV reported.
At the time, the suspect was described as a Hispanic man between 30 and 40 years old who did not speak English.
Detectives tracked down and arrested Santo Martinez Varela on Jan. 11, then confirmed his identity with a DNA search warrant, the department wrote.
Varela illegally crossed the Mexican border from Honduras in 2023 without any contact with law enforcement, and traveled to West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
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Varela is being held without bail at Palm Beach County Jail on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, and faced a judge on Sunday, according to online records.
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“To anyone thinking of committing these kind of heinous crimes in Palm Beach County: We will find you,” the sheriff’s department wrote in their social media post. “Justice will be served.”
