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Francisco Lopez-Gomez, of the Bronx, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, March 19 in Rockland County for the Thursday, June 15, 2017 attack in Valley Cottage, said Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II.
The abuse took place when the girl was attending a birthday party with her family on the grounds of Rockland Lake State Park, said Scott Waters, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office.
Waters said the victim was changing out of her bathing suit in a family member’s vehicle, when Lopez-Gomez approached the vehicle, entered, and then sexually abused the girl.
The sexual abuse was not reported until years later and once reported, the New York City Police Department, New York State Police, and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit investigated the matter.
At the time of Lopez-Gomez's arrest, he was serving a probationary sentence for a conviction for endangering the welfare of a child in March 2021, in Bronx County.
Following his sentence, Lopez-Gomez will have to register as a sex offender, Waters said.
“The plea of guilty by the defendant in this case should send a clear message to any individual who has or is sexually abusing a child that you will be investigated and prosecuted for your horrific actions," Walsh said.
Lopez-Gomez will be sentenced in June.
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