A 25-year-old man who raped and impregnated an 11-year-old Polk Country girl has been arrested and extradited back to Tampa, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Detectives say that’s when they learned the mother had already called Mendez to ask if he’d molested her daughter. The victim’s mother told detectives that she took her daughter to the Health Department to inquire about her daughter’s illness, with symptoms of loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting, that she suspected was due to recent vaccinations she had been administered. He then fled to Guatemala in November 2014 but has since been extradited back to Polk County on the active warrants.
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The Polk sheriff’s office says DNA tests done on the baby, born in spring 2015, and items Mendez left behind confirm the man’s paternity.
Days later, on December 2, 2014, the victim’s mother told detectives she talked to Mendez and he confirmed he was in Guatemala. His first court appearance is today at 1:00 p.m.
He’s been charged with three counts Sexual Battery on a Minor Under 12 Years Old and one count Lewd Molestation. He tried running away from the consequences of his actions, but he couldn’t hide from justice.
“When we say that we’ll chase you to the ends of the Earth in order to arrest you, please understand that is exactly what we did”, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted the PCSO by coordinating the arrest and extradition of Mendez through the FBI Legal Attaché office in Guatemala.
