NEED TO KNOW
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A man will spend 30 years in prison for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl inside the Virginia home where he was hired to work
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Ricardo Leonel Mejía, 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of raping a victim under 13 years old.
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Prosecutors said the victim’s mother saw Mejia naked in her daughter’s bed last fall when she opened the closed bedroom door.
A man who was caught raping an 11-year-old girl inside the Virginia home where he was hired to work will spend 30 years in prison.
Ricardo Leonel Mejia, 35, received the sentence after pleading guilty in June to three counts of rape of a victim under the age of 13, Virginia Beach Prosecutor Colin D. Stolle announced in a news release on Oct. 7.
Prosecutors said the 11-year-old victim’s mother saw Mejia naked in her daughter’s bed on Oct. 9, 2024, and recognized him as the man she had hired to renovate one of the bathrooms in her home.
The mother had tried to see her daughter before going to bed, but her daughter’s door was locked. Finally, the mother opened the door with a butter knife, according to prosecutors.
“Mejia jumped out of bed, grabbed some of his clothing, left the bedroom through an open window and ran away,” the statement states.
“The victim told police that the defendant had vaginal intercourse with her,” the statement continued. “A physical examination was performed on the victim and forensic analysis determined that Mejia’s DNA and sperm were present in the victim.”
While speaking with Mejia, police said he admitted to “having a relationship” with the girl and knowing she was a minor, according to the statement. He also said that night was the third time he had sex with the girl, adding that the first occurred a few days earlier in the bathroom when the girl’s parents were not home.
Mejia further claimed that he jumped out of the window because he was afraid of a confrontation with the victim’s father, prosecutors said.
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A judge sentenced Mejía to 75 years in prison with 45 years suspended, leaving 30 years to serve, according to the statement.
The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office said in a post on X that Mejía is a citizen of El Salvador and was in the United States illegally at the time of the crime. They added that he will serve his decades-long sentence before being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Read the original article on People