After a year-long investigation, Palm Beach County sheriff’s office on Wednesday arrested a 24-year-old Lake Worth Beach, Florida, man for repeatedly sexually assaulting an eight-year-old child.

Pedro Juan Francisco, also known as “Ave,” was ordered Thursday to remain jailed without the possibility of posting bail.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, in October 2018, Francisco offered the victim candy and money luring her to have sex with him.

The girl told the investigators that Francisco forced her to perform sexual acts on him even after she resisted repeatedly. She said this continued to happen on multiple occasions. She said she felt sad and horrible when Francisco forced her into the lewd acts.

The victim’s sister told the investigators that she had witnessed the incident once when she walked in on them at their grandmother’s house. She immediately informed her grandmother about what she saw. Her grandmother consoled her by saying that she will inform the police if it happened again.

The location and the relationship between the child and Francisco were redacted from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s records, as the case involved a minor.

Francisco was charged with two counts of sexual battery on a minor.

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