Groveland man accused of molesting young girl

A Groveland man was arrested on suspicion of molesting a young girl while she stayed over at his house. 

Law enforcement received a call about a sexual offense involving a minor on Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. 

The female juvenile victim’s mother advised the juvenile victim stayed with 52-year-old Dionicio Collado the night prior. She was touched inappropriately and kissed on the lips by Collado. It was later found that the juvenile victim, an unidentified person, Collado and his wife were in the same room at the time of the incident, though the rest of the individuals did not see anything, the report said. 

The juvenile victim stated that she was at the incident location when Collado touched her inappropriately on her buttocks and vaginal area. She also described Collado pulling her hair to pull her head towards him. He then kissed her on the lips, the report said. 

Because the incident was within the jurisdiction of LCSO, deputies responded to complete a report. The juvenile victim’s mother again described the mentioned allegations. According to her, the touching was under the clothes. She also stated that Collado touched the juvenile victim’s breasts, the report said. 

The juvenile victim told her mother and father what happened when they picked her up. Her mother then spoke to Collado’s wife about the events before confronting Collado. He refused to speak with any adults but wanted to speak with the victim. Her parents refused and took their children home, the report said. 

A forensic interview was thus scheduled for the following afternoon, the report said. During the interview, the juvenile victim reiterated what happened. The first occurrence was at about 3 a.m. and the next at 4 a.m. Collado shut the door to make it darker. He and an unidentified person also smoked outside during this time, the report said.  

Additionally, the juvenile victim clarified that Collado touched her under her clothes on each occasion. The clothing she was wearing during the incident was given to law enforcement during the interview, the report said. 

Another piece of evidence submitted to LCSO involved a recorded phone conversation between Collado and the juvenile victim’s mother. He did not admit to the incident but stated the juvenile victim’s perception of the incident was not wrong. He advised that he did not know if she thought of him as sexual, the report said. 

On Tuesday, detectives went to the incident location and met with Collado in the yard. He advised that during the incident, he smoked a small amount of THC as he usually does. He and the juvenile victim watched a show on her phone, titled Never Have I Ever. He felt that it was an inappropriate show for a juvenile of her age, but they watched it for a while, the report said. 

After this, Collado stated he placed the phone nearby and went to sleep. He denied remembering anything that happened after other than going to the bathroom on one occasion during the night. He described himself as a deep sleeper and said he talks to himself as well as urinates on himself at times while sleeping, the report said.  

Collado denied touching the juvenile victim but advised that it may have happened. Detectives then informed him that the allegations were that he touched the juvenile victim under the clothes. He was asked if his DNA would be present on the inside of her clothing, and he would not directly answer the question. He then invoked his rights to legal representation, the report said.  

Collado was arrested on charges of three counts of lewd or lascivious molestation (victim less than 12 years old). The Dominican Republic native was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $150,000. A court date was set for Nov. 27.