Published On: October 4th, 2019Categories: Uncategorized

Before ringing in 2016, a Bradenton man decided he wanted to start the new year with a fresh start and admitted to having sex with a 12-year-old girl on several occasions since she was 11, “since he felt she was old enough old to have sex.”

Wilfredo Erazo-Turcios, 30, must not have thought his comments to the girl’s mother would be reported to the police and he would be held accountable for his crimes.

Erazo-Turcios was found guilty Sept. 24 of two counts of sexual battery on a child less than 12 years of age or less after a jury deliberated deliberated for about one hour following a two-day-long trial. Although he had a right to a pre-sentencing investigation, Erazo-Turcios’ defense waived that right and he was sentenced to life in prison immediately after the verdict.

He has also been designated a sexual predator.

The victim testified at trial, saying that Erazo-Turcios had threatened to hurt her and her family if she ever told anyone what had happened.


ErazoTurcios.jpg

Wilfredo Erazo-Turcios

Manatee County Sheriff’s Office

Provided photo

“The young victim in this case showed great courage in disclosing the defendant’s actions and in confronting her abuser at trial,” Assistant State Attorney Ashley Dusnik said in an issued statement.

The victim had known Erazo-Turcios since she was 6 years old. Erazo-Turcios admitted the abuse to her mother on New Year’s Eve in 2015, telling her he had sex with the girl 11 times.

After the girl confirmed that Erazo-Turcios had been abusing her, he realized that the police were being called, so he took off. The white Dodge Caravan he was driving was found abandoned the next day in Laredo, Texas.

On Sept. 13, 2017, the Bradenton Police Department received a tip that Erazo-Turcios was working in Sarasota. When detectives showed up, they found and arrested him.

Erazo-Turcios admitted to police that he had raped the girl and he took off first to Mexico and later his native Honduras when he knew it was being reported to them.

Jessica De Leon has been covering crime, courts and law enforcement for the Bradenton Herald since 2013. She has won numerous awards for her coverage including the Florida Press Club’s Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting in 2016 for her coverage into the death of 11-year-old Janiya Thomas.




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