FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Charges have been filed against two people following the suspected sexual assault of a minor in Fond du Lac earlier this month.
Juan Carlos Rocha Meija, is charged with one count of first-degree child sexual assault, one count of child enticement, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of strangulation and suffocation.
Elia Antonio is charged with trafficking of a child, failure to protect a child and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping. Prosecutors say she's the mother of the victim and girlfriend of Meija.
According to the complaint against Meija, the incident took place on May 18, 2024 in the Town of Oakfield in Fond du Lac County.
The complaint said Meija attempted to blindfold the victim and restrain her with tape in a van. The victim told investigators she tried to fight him off and he touched her inappropriately, according to the complaint. She also told police he tried to rape her and make her faint by using a shirt to cover her nose and mouth before she was able to run away.
Investigators said she alerted the owner of a home in the area who helped her to safety.
Both defendants made their initial court appearance on Wednesday. Cash bond was set at $1 million for each defendant. Investigators say both Meija and Antonio are in the United States illegally, and ICE detainers have been placed on both.
"What they are accusing me I have nothing to do with," Mejia said in court, through a translator.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said he could not comment about this specific case, but spoke generally about how the DA's office handles cases with an ICE detainer.
"Generally speaking, if we have a defendant that's in custody and then they have an ICE hold, if they were to post that cash bond, that ICE detainer would kick in, and federal authorities would be expected to pick them up," Toney said.
Both defendants are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 7, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
