Jan. 28 – TORRINGTON – A Sharon man and former University of Connecticut student was arrested Tuesday morning for risk of injury to a minor.
According to Connecticut State Police, the arrest stems from an incident that occurred last summer.
State Police said that at approximately 6:08 p.m. on August 1, 2022, soldiers from B Troop Barracks in North Canaan responded to a residence in the city of Norfolk at the request of a concerned relative who had discovered a sexually suggestive text message. conversation on their young child’s cell phone.
According to state police, when they arrived at the residence, the parent explained that they found sexual text messages between their minor child and someone, believed to be an older man, on the cell phone of the minor.
State police said the text conversation indicated that the minor and the stranger had planned to meet on the night of July 31, 2022, at a business near the minor’s home to drink alcoholic beverages and give each other sex. hickeys.
According to state police, during the exchange, the stranger had sent the minor a photograph depicting the back of a business near the minor’s home, suggesting they had arrived in the area.
Text messages exchanged in the hours that followed, according to state police, suggest the two had met in person overnight and text messages sent by the minor included the phrase “I’m so drunk.”
State police also say the parent went on to explain that he noticed the minor had vaping equipment, which would be too expensive for him.
The minor’s cell phone was seized as evidence, according to state police. During the investigation, state police learned that the cell phone number used by the stranger was associated with a man identified as Leonardo Villanes-Medina, 23, of Sharon, Connecticut, who was also known to reside on the UConn Storrs campus.
State police said investigators learned Villanes-Medina had a prior arrest for second-degree sexual assault and the case is pending in court. They also discovered that Villanes-Medina was also previously arrested by the UConn Police Department in April 2022 for fourth-degree sexual assault and that case was also pending in court.
According to state police, the UConn Police Department was able to confirm that the phone number on file for Villanes-Medina matched the phone number used by the unknown to contact the child victim in this investigation. Subsequently, an arrest warrant for Villanes-Medina was requested and granted by the court.
According to state police, at approximately 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Villanes-Medina arrived at Torrington Superior Court to appear on unrelated matters and was detained by court marshals based on the active warrant for her arrest. At 11:33 a.m., soldiers arrived in the processing area of the courthouse and served the arrest warrant, charging Villanes-Medina with risk of injury/damage to a minor.
According to state police, following his arrest, Villanes-Medina was returned to the custody of judicial marshals, held on $100,000.00 bail and arraigned the same day.
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