Man accused of child abuse after 9-year-old found alone with only one shoe on Estero street

ESTERO, Fla. —

A man was arrested and accused of child abuse after a child was found walking alone on the street without proper clothing in Estero.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the McDonald's on Grande Oak Shoppes Boulevard on Tuesday.

There, they met with a woman who said she had found a 9-year-old boy walking alone on the street while only wearing boxers, a long-sleeve shirt and one shoe. The woman said the child told her he had been kicked out of his house and that he was hungry and thirsty, the LCSO said.

The woman took the child to McDonald's and called law enforcement.

Deputies spoke to the child, who told them he had been locked out of his house the previous night, and the only clothes he had available to him were what he was wearing.

Deputies also noticed multiple injuries on the child, who explained that sometimes, as a punishment, his hands and feet were taped together, the LCSO said.

The Special Victims Unit and the Department of Children and Families responded to the case.

The child told the Children and Families Department that he was watching television Monday when he was hit on the leg by a brown belt. He was then kicked out of the house and told not to come back, the LCSO said.

The victim explained his numerous injuries, saying that he had been hit with a belt and that he was tied to a chair with a yellow rope. The child also added that he would have his hands and feet tied together with gray tape and would have to free himself by cutting it off with scissors, the LCSO said.

He also explained additional injuries on the back of his knees, saying they were caused by being hit with a sandal, the LCSO said.

Detectives executed a search warrant at the home, and found a yellow rope, duct tape and black sandals, which were as described by the child, the LCSO said.

Deputies arrested the child's father, Juan Nolasco Mateo, 37. He faces a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer was placed on Nolasco Mateo because he arrived in the U.S. illegally from Guatemala, the LCSO said.

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