WYANDANCH, NY — A 22-year-old Wyandanch man has been indicted on rape and other charges after prosecutors said he sexually abused a 6-year-old child on multiple occasions, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Monday.
Nixon Nehemias Marquezmestanza was indicted on two counts of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the district attorney's office.
Prosecutors said Marquezmestanza had direct childcare access to the child and allegedly sexually abused the victim several times during July and August.
Following the last incident in August, the child told family members about the abuse, and they contacted police, prosecutors said.
Marquezmestanza was arrested Aug. 31 following an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department Special Victims Section.
Marquezmestanza, a Salvadoran national residing in Wyandanch, was arraigned Monday before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis.
Wilutis ordered him held on $500,000 cash bail, $1.5 million bond or $5 million partially secured bond, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer seeking custody of Marquezmestanza following the prosecution, according to the district attorney's office.
He is due back in court Oct. 29 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
Marquezmestanza is represented by attorney Ira Weissman, who was not immediately available for comment.
"This brave young victim told someone, and her family acted on it immediately," Tierney said in a statement. "That is how these cases come to light. I want every family in Suffolk County to know that they can come forward, and our prosecutors and Special Victims Section will be there."
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