Crime & Safety

Hopkins Man Charged with Sexually Abusing 6-Year-Old Niece

Police say Edgar Jesus Gonzalez-Mendoza had repeated sexual contact with the girl.

A Hopkins man has been charged with having repeated inappropriate sexual contact with his 6-year-old niece.

Edgar Jesus Gonzalez-Mendoza, 32, faces two felony counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $40,000 fine.

Officers were called to a Minneapolis home July 3 after the victim’s parents reported that she had been sexually abused by Gonzalez-Mendoza, according to the criminal complaint, signed by Minneapolis Police Sgt. Patrick Myslajek.

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The child’s father told police that earlier that day, he and the victim, along with Gonzalez-Mendoza, drove to a downtown Minneapolis pawnshop. The girl’s father said he parked and left Gonzalez-Mendoza sitting in the front seat, with his daughter in the back seat.

When he returned about five minutes later, Gonzalez-Mendoza was sitting beside the girl in the back seat, the man said. After they returned home and Gonzalez-Mendoza left, the girl began to cry and told her parents that Gonzalez-Mendoza put his finger in her “cholita,” which they understood to mean vagina, and told her that she was “delicious,” according to the complaint.

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The child was taken to a St. Paul treatment facility, where she told authorities that Gonzalez-Mendoza had climbed into the back seat of the car and had touched her genitals.

The girl told investigators that Gonzalez-Mendoza had touched her genitals numerous times at her home while her mother was at work, using his fingers and his tongue. She said he also sometimes put his penis in her mouth.

The girl’s mother told police that when the child was 3, she told her that Gonzalez-Mendoza had touched her “cholita,” but that the incident was not reported to police, according to the complaint.

Gonzalez-Mendoza, who was arrested July 10, is being held in the Hennepin County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He is also on an immigration hold, meaning that he faces possible deportation after his criminal charges are resolved.

An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Aug. 10 in Hennepin County District Court.

 

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