GROVELAND, Fla. – A Groveland man has been arrested for raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter for the last four months, the Lake County Sheriff's Office said.
A woman visiting from Puerto Rico called Lake County deputies and told them that the victim said her stepfather Carlos Mejia Figueroa, 30, repeatedly touched her over her clothes and talked to her about sex beginning in August, according to the report.
The abuse would become more aggressive each time, the girl told told deputies.
The 14-year-old made notes on her wall calendar of the dates when the lewd acts occurred, and deputies counted more than 10 dates on her calendar, authorities said.
The attacks continued to escalate until Mejia Figueroa sexually battered the victim on Oct. 3 and four more occasions, according to the arrest report.
The victim told deputies that she searched the internet for “how to gather evidence of sexual abuse.”
The victim collected semen after she was raped Oct. 29 and put it into a container, marking the date, according to the report.
The victim gave the samples to deputies and the calendar on which she tracked the abuse to be used as evidence.
A medical examination confirmed the evidence of abuse and scarring on the victim.
The girl told deputies that she was afraid to tell her mother because she thought the news would kill her because of her poor health.
Mejia Figueroa is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between 12 and 16 years old, one count of sexual battery by a custodial authority and one count of lewd and lascivious battery on a child between 12 and 16 years old. He was ordered held without bond in the Lake County Jail.