Press release
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Guillermo Torres-Acevedo, 23, of Batavia, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with transporting a minor across state lines for sexual activity. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie O. Lamarque, who is handling the case, state that according to the complaint, on November 29, 2018, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office received a report regarding a missing 14 year-old girl (Victim 1). Surveillance video from Byron Bergen Junior/Senior High School showed Victim 1 exiting a school bus at the school and walking to a blue vehicle and leaving the property. Victim 1 had recently been romantically involved with the defendant. As a result of this, Torres-Acevedo was arrested and charged by the New York State Police three days prior on November 26, 2018, with 2nd Degree Rape and 2nd Degree Criminal Sex Act. An Order of Protection was also issued against the defendant.
Further investigation determined that on morning of November 29, 2018, Torres-Acevedo took his mother’s vehicle against her wishes. The vehicle matched the vehicle that Victim 1 was seen to get into in the surveillance video. As a result, an Amber Alert was issued.
Investigators traced Torres-Acevedo and Victim 1 to a truck stop in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Police were contacted and located Victim 1 and the defendant in the parking lot of a retail store. Torres-Acevedo was taken into custody, and Victim 1 was returned to her parents.
The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder and is being detained.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff William A. Sheron, Jr.; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Eric Laughton; the Pennsylvania State Police, under the direction of Acting Commissioner Lieutenant Colonel Robert Evanchick; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.