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March 26, 2005
Child sex suspect arrested
A man sought by police for a series of sexual batteries on a Kissimmee child over a several year period surrendered to authorities Wednesday afternoon.
Manual Vasquez-Roque turned himself in to the Osceola County Jail one day after police publicly announced that he was wanted on 15 counts of capital sexual battery on a child under 12; 10 counts of lewd molestation; and domestic violence.
He was also wanted on a warrant for failure to pay child support.
Authorities learned that when media outlets began to call Vasquez-Roque’s parents in Kissimmee after the case was released, they said he was on his way to surrender.
Previously, police didn’t know his whereabouts.
“I think it was all the media and the press he was getting,” said Kissimmee Police Officer Ralph Herrera, department spokesman.
Sex crimes investigators secured an arrest warrant for Vasquez-Roque, 33, after an investigation began Feb. 24 involving the female victim, now 15 years old.
According to police reports, Vasquez-Roque had begun sexually battering the girl at age 7 in a Kissimmee home and continued until she was 11. He had also forced the child to perform lewd acts on him, reports said. The girl recently told a school official about the alleged abuse, which led to the police investigation.
The victim’s mother was also arrested and charged with child neglect. The girl told her mother about the sexual abuse several years ago, Herrera said. But when the mother confronted Vasquez-Roque about the allegations, he apologized and said it wouldn’t occur again. She failed to take any further measures to prevent the abuse from happening again, police officials said.
To protect the victim’s identity, police officials would not release the mother’s name.
The state Department of Children and Families removed the victim and two other children from the home.
While Vasquez-Roque was on the loose, police said there were concerns about repeated offenses to other possible victims.
He was being held at the jail on no bond.
“He is going to get his date in court,” Herrera said. “It should help bring closure to the victim and the victim’s family.”
Posted by Nealus at March 26, 2005 03:42 PM
