FOND DU LAC – A Fond du Lac man accused of sexually assaulting and trafficking his girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter pleads not guilty in court.
31-year-old Juan Carlos Rocha Mejia appeared in a Fond du Lac courtroom on Thursday, and entered the plea to four felonies: 1st degree child sexual assault – contact with a child under age 16, child enticement, false imprisonment, and strangulation and suffocation.
The charges come from an incident back in May when Rocha Mejia’s girlfriend 34-year-old Elia Antonio trafficked her daughter to Rocha Mejia, who assaulted the child. She escaped to a neighbor, who then called police.
No additional court information for Rocha Mejia is available yet.
Elia Antonio, the mother of the trafficked child, is due back in court on October 28.
OAKFIELD from May 29, 2024 – A Fond du Lac County mother has been charged with attempting to traffick her 12-year-old daughter earlier this month to the mother’s boyfriend.
A criminal complaint filed Wednesday alleges on May 18th, Elia Antonio drove her daughter from their North Fond du Lac home to the home of 18-year-old Juan Carlos Rocha-Mejia. There, Rocha-Mejia took over the van and drove to a location on Breakneck Road, where he attempted to blindfold the victim and taped her hand to the seat of the van before sexually assaulting her.
After fighting her way out of the van, the victim ran to a nearby home for help.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Girl escapes attempted assault in Fond du Lac County
While speaking to investigators, Antonio said she was told by Rocha-Mejia that he “buys people with money”, that he “has cops that work for him”, and not to talk with police because “he has control of everything”. The complaint notes at no point during the May 18th incident did Antonio call 9-1-1.
A search of the van found 272 dollars in U.S. currency.
The victim told investigators another incident involving Rocha-Mejia occurred in December of 2023. According to the complaint, the victim had told Rocha-Mejia about an upcoming field trip which he offered to pay for but then asked “what he would get in exchange” before touching her thigh.
“Sadly, human trafficking exists all over the world, including Fond du Lac County” said Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. “We will always stand with law enforcement to protect our community from monsters that prey on children and ensure they’re held accountable in the justice system.”
Both Antonio and Mejia are in the United States illegally, and ICE has placed a detainer on both of them.
Antonio is charged with felony trafficking of a child, felony failure to protect a child, and two misdemeanor counts of bail jumping. Rocha-Mejia is charged with felony 1st degree sexual assault, child enticement, false imprisonment, and strangulation & suffocation.
Antonio and Rocha-Mejia are being held on a one million dollar cash bond, and face a combined 161 years in prison if convicted of all charges. They are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 7th.
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