Man, 36, accused of sexually abusing three Immokalee girls

Deputies on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of sexually abusing three girls over a stretch of about six years while they were living in Immokalee, according to court documents.

Fidencio M. Leal Collazo, 36, faces two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, two counts of sexual battery of a child younger than 12 and one count of sexual activity with a child, according to a Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

Leal Collazo was living in LaBelle when he was arrested by Hendry County Sheriff's Office deputies on three charges of lewd and lascivious molestation in May.

While at the jail, he was served with a Collier County warrant on child sex abuse charges Oct. 2 and was turned over to Collier authorities Monday, Oct. 8, according to Cpt. Susan Harrelle, a spokeswoman for the Hendry County Sheriff's Office. 

Some of the alleged abuses took place in Immokalee and some took place in LaBelle, according to court documents. Leal Collazo may face prosecution in Hendry County after his case is resolved in Collier, according to Harrelle.

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The three girls, ages 13, 11 and 8, told investigators Leal Collazo had either forced them to have sex with him or touched them inappropriately, according to a criminal complaint filed in Collier County district court. 

The girls said the abuse took place at different times between 2011 and 2017. One of the girls said the last time she was forced to have sex was in April at a home in Hendry County.

In May, the Florida Department of Children and Families received a report that Leal Collazo was verbally abusing the girls and keeping them locked in a home in Hendry, the criminal complaint states. A DCF investigator interviewed the girls at a family friend's home, where they disclosed the abuse, the investigator said.

According to the complaint, the girls told investigators they told Leal Collazo to stop, but that he would get upset when they said no and threaten to hurt them and their mother.

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Each of the girls at some point talked to their mom about the abuse, according to the complaint. The girls told investigators their mom didn't believe them, called them liars or said they were crazy, the complaint states.

The girls were placed with a family member because of the allegations, according to the complaint.

When detectives talked to Leal Collazo, he first denied any touching or sexual contact took place with the girls. He later said it happened with two of the girls, the complaint states. 

Leal Collazo was booked at the Naples Jail Center. Bail was set at $3.15 million, and he  remained in custody Wednesday.