Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that Edilsar Alvarado (age 40), of Providence, was sentenced today by Superior Court Justice Netti C. Vogel to 18 years, with nine to serve and the remainder suspended with probation for the molestation of a 13-year-old girl he smuggled to Providence from Guatemala. In addition, Alvarado was ordered to undergo sex offender counseling, lifetime sex offender registration and community notification, and was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Alvarado was found guilty in June of two counts of first degree child molestation by Justice Vogel in a jury-waived trial that lasted two weeks. During the trial, the State proved that in 2008, Alvarado molested a 13-year-old whom he smuggled to the United States from Guatemala.
The molestation came to light in May 2015 when an attorney for the victim notified the Rhode Island State Police that the defendant disclosed the relationship between he and the victim during a child custody case before the Family Court in July 2014.
During the custody hearing, the defendant admitted under oath that he and the victim had been involved in a sexual relationship from the time she came to the United States at the age of 13 until she left his residence at the age of 19.
Rhode Island State Police began an investigation in May of 2015 with assistance from the Attorney General's office. The victim reported to the police that she first met the defendant when she was 11 years old in her native country of Guatemala while the defendant was visiting his family.
In 2008, the victim was smuggled to the United States via Mexico, arranged and paid for by the defendant. The journey to the United States took approximately a month with the victim traveling at night and by foot with the help of a "coyote," a person who brings individuals across the United States border for a fee.
The victim disclosed that the first attempt to cross the border failed and she was captured at the United States/Mexico border, but that the defendant paid more money in a second attempt to bring her to the United States.
She was eventually brought to Rhode Island where was forced to have a sexual relationship with the defendant. She became pregnant by the defendant when she was 14 years of age. The victim further disclosed that the defendant enrolled her in Providence public schools pretending to be her cousin.
"This defendant preyed on a young girl, brought her to this country against her will for the express purpose of molesting her, and forced her to essentially become his slave," said Attorney General Kilmartin. "Despite what must have been a tortuous ordeal, the victim found the strength to leave her captor, report the abuse, and finally escape the nightmare she was living. No one should have to go through what this young woman did, and we are grateful for those who came to her aid and continue to support her and her child."
Rhode Island State Police Corporal Marc Alboum led the investigation and Special Assistant Attorneys General Ania Zielinski and Siobhan Bogosian prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.