44-year-old arrested for sexual assault of 17-year-old in Englewood

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (WINK) — A 44-year-old man is facing serious charges after deputies say he provided alcohol to a 17-year-old girl and then sexually assaulted her at South Broadway Residences.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call around 3:30 a.m. on May 3 reporting a sexual assault with injuries in the 900 block of South Broadway in Englewood. Detectives say Melchor Hernandez Alcaraz provided alcoholic beverages to the teenager and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.

Investigators interviewed Alcaraz, and he confessed to the allegations. He was transported to the Charlotte County Jail and charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual battery on a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“Here we are with yet another individual who couldn’t keep his hands off a juvenile. I am running out of ways to say how disgusting sex crimes are, especially when there is a child involved," Sheriff Bill Prummell said. "To make it even worse, this individual is in the US illegally… for now, anyway. This should not have happened, and my heart goes out to the young lady and her family.”

According to the sheriff's office, Alcaraz is in the country without legal status and has an immigration detainer. WINK News reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to confirm that and to learn what the next steps could be once the local case moves forward.

WINK News went to the complex and spoke with neighbors Joshua Hartman and Cydney Hackney, who live nearby. They said they did not hear anything overnight but realized something was wrong when they saw crime scene tape and a large law enforcement presence.

"When I came out here, I noticed our neighbor's apartment was taped off and saw a bunch of cops and everybody from the apartment just spread around our parking lot area," Hartman said.

Hackney and Hartman described regular activity and vehicles coming and going from the unit, something they say stands out as they look back on what happened. Hartman said between three and five different cars would come and go all the time.

"They had a couple people here one day, and I had no place to park, so I tried to see if, hey, maybe, you know, you guys could possibly let me park real quick," Hartman said. "I knocked on the door and nobody ever answered. It seemed like they just didn't want to associate with anybody outside their little group."

As parents, both Hartman and Hackney said the incident hit close to home. Hartman has a 1-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old stepchild.

"That inside your head, you're thinking, 'Whoa, that actually happened,'" Hackney said. "Not even right across from us. Like, now that tells us that we need to be more proactive on protecting our home and protecting our children."

Hartman said he wishes he had heard something that morning. He said he would have done anything he could to help.

"I just can't imagine how she feels or the emotions and the trauma she's going to have to live with because of somebody else's dumb actions," Hartman said.

The neighbors said they plan to be more vigilant moving forward.

"If something doesn't seem right, don't ignore it," Hartman said. "Maybe if you get that real bad gut feeling that something just isn't right, maybe just speak up to another person and see what they say or just make it known."