OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A man arrested Thursday is accused of sexually abusing a girl for several years in a home near Kissimmee, according to the sheriff’s office.
Giancarlo Gonzalez-Nieves, 24, was arrested via warrant to face a charge of sexual battery (perpetrator over 18 and victim under 12). He’s being held on no bond.
The victim on June 4 told a deputy that Gonzalez-Nieves began abusing her around four years ago when she was roughly 8 years old and continued until she was roughly 12, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Gonzalez-Nieves was over the age of 18 at the time of the abuse, the release states.
Detectives with the agency’s Special Victims Unit were able to obtain multiple admissions from Gonzalez-Nieves that confirmed the victim’s allegations, the sheriff’s office said, adding the abuse occurred at a home along Pleasant Hill Road just south of Kissimmee.
“They were watching the child, just watching- babysitting the child‚” Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said at a news conference. “There was no relation, just like family friends.”
The sheriff’s office urged anyone aware of any information regarding Gonzalez-Nieves — as well as any other potential victims — to contact investigators by calling 407-348-2222.
“Also it’s my understanding that he went to the Palabra De Fe church. I don’t have the exact address, he could have been a participant there, a coach, counselor or a member. We’re going to be reaching out to them also here shortly to make sure there’s no additional victims there,” Lopez said. “(...)This incident at the home, I’m not sure if it’s directly related to the church because it’s something that he just disclosed to us, that he was there counseling in some sort of form, so that’s why we’re talking about the church now and if there’s additional victims that were there to come forward and let us know so we can give him additional charges.”
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