A Florida man is facing several felony charges following a late-night attack in Englewood that left a teenage girl injured. Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputies took 44-year-old Melchor Hernandez Alcaraz into custody early Sunday morning after a 911 call led investigators to the 900 block of South Broadway.
The incident unfolded around 3:30 a.m. on May 3, when authorities were alerted to a sexual assault that had just occurred.
Detectives with the Major Crimes Unit determined that Alcaraz provided the 17-year-old victim with alcohol before kidnapping her and committing aggravated sexual battery. During an interrogation with detectives, Alcaraz reportedly confessed to the crimes.
Sheriff Bill Prummell released a statement regarding the arrest, voicing his anger over the nature of the offense.
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“Here we are with yet another individual who couldn’t keep his hands off of a juvenile,” Prummell said. “I am running out of ways to say how disgusting sex crimes are, especially when there is a child involved. To make it even worse, this individual is in the US illegally… for now, anyway. This should not have happened, and my heart goes out to the young lady and her family.”
Alcaraz was booked into the Charlotte County Jail on charges of kidnapping, aggravated sexual battery on a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Officials confirmed that Alcaraz is in the country illegally, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has since issued a detainer for him.
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