A 47-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting a child in Schuylkill County over an eight-year period, beginning when she was 6 years old, police say.
Gerardo Rodriguez, of Marysville, Perry County, is alleged to have subjected the victim, now 15, to a pattern of sexual abuse that escalated from showing her pornography to repeated sexual intercourse, according to police. Police say Rodriguez ultimately admitted the allegations were true in a voicemail left for a caseworker.
The abuse reportedly began around 2016 at an apartment in Tamaqua. Police say Rodriguez would make the then-6-year-old girl watch animated pornography in a bedroom with the lights off when no other adults were present.
Between the ages of 9 and 11, Rodriguez began inappropriately touching and kissing the victim, police say. When the victim turned 12 in July 2022, the abuse escalated to sexual intercourse, which occurred at a residence on Center St. in Tamaqua and at a hotel in Harrisburg, according to police.
The victim told investigators that Rodriguez would tell her he loved her and that he was “her husband, her lover.” The victim reported feeling confused and uncomfortable, but she told police she relented to his demands because Rodriguez had anger issues and she was afraid of him. Rodriguez would also tell the victim she “owed” him, the victim told police.
The victim reported multiple instances of intercourse, as well as inappropriate touching. She also said Rodriguez forced her to take a pill she believed was birth control and, on another occasion, made her take a pregnancy test.
Police say Rodriguez would typically initiate the abuse when other adults were out of the residence working, shopping, or attending medical appointments.
The sexual intercourse ended when the victim was 14, late in the year, but police say inappropriate touching and grooming continued.
The victim first disclosed the abuse to another juvenile when she was 14, and recently reported it to a caseworker at a crisis center, police say. She told investigators she finally felt safe enough to speak up because Rodriguez was no longer around.
After initially denying the accusations to a caseworker, Rodriguez called back two hours later and left a voicemail in Spanish admitting that everything the victim said was true, police say.
Rodriguez was arraigned on numerous felony charges, including rape, rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and aggravated indecent assault on April 29 before Magisterial District Judge James Reiley. Reiley set bail at $500,000 and remanded Rodriguez to Schuylkill County Prison. A preliminary hearing is set for May 12 in Tamaqua.
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