FOND DU LAC – Elia Antonio, 34, was convicted in a case of attempted trafficking and sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl from May 2024.
According to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, Antonio pleaded guilty May 12 to human trafficking, failure to protect a child and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping. Judge Laura Lavey revoked bond.
A sentencing date is expected to be set after next month’s trial of the co-defendant, Juan Carlos Rocha Mejia, who was charged with first-degree sexual assault, child enticement, strangulation/suffocation and false imprisonment.
According to the criminal complaints, Rocha Mejia is suspected to have paid Antonio approximately $250 to spend time with her daughter so he could restrain her and attempt to sexually assault her. The victim fought back and broke free, running to a house in Oakfield for help, where a resident then called 911.
Antonio told investigators Rocha Mejia threatened to take the victim whether she accepted the money or not. She said she had to do whatever he said or she would get in trouble, and that he threatened her and her children if she ever “went to court,” according to the criminal complaints.
Both defendants are in the United States illegally, and ICE detainers were placed on them when they were charged last year.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union’s website: “An ICE detainer — or ‘immigration hold’ — is one of the key tools U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses to apprehend individuals who come in contact with local and state law enforcement agencies and put them into the federal deportation system. An ICE detainer is a written request that a local jail or other law enforcement agency detain an individual for an additional 48 hours after his or her release date in order to provide ICE agents extra time to decide whether to take the individual into federal custody for removal purposes.”
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, and Toney and Assistant District Attorney Kristin Menzl are prosecuting.
Toney added that help is available with the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or by texting “INFO” to 233733. Local resources include ASTOP’s 24-hour crisis line at 920-926-5395.
Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: First of two defendants in US illegally convicted in Fond du Lac County human trafficking case
Reporting by Daphne Lemke, Fond du Lac Reporter / Fond du Lac Reporter
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