Newly arrived illegal immigrant kidnaps an 11-year-old girl and rapes her in his white van as her mother screams for help outside

A twenty-year-old illegal migrant has been arrested after allegedly kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl outside her Florida home.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office identified Marvin Dionel Perez Lopez as the girl's attacker, claiming he forced her into his white van where the alleged sexual assault took place.

The child's mother, according to police, searched for her daughter and saw the van not far from where she and Lopez lived in Lake Worth.

The mother caught a glimpse of her daughter and the suspect in the van and began banging on the door, shouting at him to free the girl, according to an arrest report.

Sherriff's deputies said Lopez fled from the van at that point. The victim's mother then stopped by Lopez's apartment where his brother also lived. Lopez's brother got him to come home where the mother confronted him.

After listening to Lopez's pleas for forgiveness, the victim's mother called 911.

Investigators on the scene interviewed the victim who told them that Lopez forced himself on her even after she tried to refuse and get away.

At the same time, Lopez again tried to flee, this time through a back window of his apartment. Police noticed Lopez doing this and chased after him. It's not clear if they caught him right there and then, but police confirmed Lopez's arrest on Monday.

Lopez is from Guatemala and left the Central American country sometime in January, according to local station WPTV. When he crossed into Mexico, he reportedly surrendered to border patrol and was given a court date in 2027, after which he was released. 

At the end of January, he made it to Florida. It's unclear how Lopez secured an apartment in Palm Beach or what he does for work.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said that Lopez 'has confessed to the crime.'

'He's gonna get tried for a capital crime before he even remotely thinks he's gonna get deported. He's gonna do the time here first,' Bradshaw said.

An expert spoke to CBS12, saying that this type of crime is uncommon.

'Stranger rape is far less prevalent than acquaintance rape. So most oftentimes it is someone that the person knows,' said Palm Beach County Victim Services director Nicole Bishop. 

Hermencia Vasquez, Lopez's sister-in-law, said she was home when the alleged victim's mother also came rapping at her door.

'It was 9 at night and the lady/mom came into my house saying that something happened with her daughter and Marvin,' Vasquez said in an interview with WPTV. 'I asked Marvin what would he do if she got pregnant and if he would be responsible, and he said yes he would be responsible for the child.'

Ever since the migrant crisis has begun capturing the attention of politicians and citizens alike, the media has been spotlighting particularly gruesome crimes by migrants who weren't supposed to be in the US at the time of their offenses.

One case that's had particular staying power is the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley at the hands of undocumented Venezuelan immigrant Jose Ibarra, 26.

Lopez was taken into custody on counts of kidnapping to sexually assault a minor, sexual assault of a victim under 12 years old, and resisting an officer without violence. 

He's currently being held in the Palm Beach County jail without bond.