ELKHORN — A Lake Geneva man has been charged with child enticement and false imprisonment after making inappropriate advances on a 12-year-old girl.
According to the criminal complaint, the girl’s grandmother reported to police Nov. 16 that the upstairs neighbor, Diego L. Sarmiento, 53, had made “inappropriate advances” on the girl.
The girl told police Sarmiento had asked her to watch his cat while he was out of town. When the girl went upstairs to see where the cat food and cat litter were kept, Sarmiento asked the girl for a hug and a kiss, according to the complaint.
The girl told police she refused and tried to leave, but the door was locked. The girl told police she was able to unlock the door and leave.
Sarmiento told police he knew what he had done was inappropriate, but also told police the girl is “beautiful,” according to the complaint.
“I have pictures of her leaving the apartment at 5:30 a.m. almost naked to go to the laundry room,” he said, according to the complaint. “I was not supposed to be there, but God put me there, took a picture.”
When police asked Sarmiento why he asked the girl for a kiss, he said, “Because I desire her,” according to the complaint.
Sarmiento faces up to $110,000 in fines and up to 31 years in prison if convicted. He appeared in court Friday.