GONZALES, La. — A Louisiana man is behind bars after authorities said he raped and impregnated a child.
According to the Advocate and WBRZ-TV, Ascension Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested Wendell Sanchez, 34, of Gonzales, early Monday on charges of first-degree child rape, resisting an officer, property damage and criminal trespassing, as well as drug and traffic offenses. He is being held in the Ascension Parish Jail on a $540,000 bond.
“When deputies arrived on scene, Sanchez fled the area in his vehicle and then abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot to a nearby apartment complex,” the post read. “Deputies, with the assistance of Gonzales Police Department, located Sanchez hiding in a patio area of a residence.”
In a Facebook post Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said Sanchez’s arrest came after doctors learned that an 11-year-old girl who went to the emergency room Sunday for treatment of abdominal pain was actually pregnant. Investigators determined that Sanchez, who had driven the girl to the hospital and was waiting inside his vehicle, likely had impregnated the girl, the post said.
While taking Sanchez into custody, deputies searched him and found drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to the post.