A businessman in Florida is currently being detained in Seminole County on allegations of turning his ex-wife’s 12-year-old girl adoptee from the Philippines into his sex slave.

When questioned by authorities, 42-year-old businessman Andy William Bosch initially said that he was the stepfather of the child, who is now 17 years old, reports WFTV.

The Department of Children and Families, however, refuted his claim, noting that his ex-wife, Melody, had illegally adopted her. In their investigation, the Department of Children and Families initially looked into the possibility of a human trafficking angle which involved Bosch.

Authorities later filed it in as illegal adoption, with DCF noting how Bosch’s ex-wife had raised the girl as her own. Investigators also described the victim as a distant relative of the suspect’s wife, as noted by the Orlando Sentinel.

In a report prepared by ICE agents, investigators revealed that the former wife got upset when she allegedly discovered that Bosch and the teenager were developing feelings for each other.

Even after the girl was transferred to foster care in March 2016, she would still sneak out and meet with Bosch at different locations, according to investigators. Months after she was admitted, the teen eventually escaped from her foster home.

“It seems like the victim, in this case, was a willing participant with the suspect, and that’s very unfortunate,” Captain Jacob Ruiz said, speaking for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s very sad for us. Perhaps she had some relationship and felt that she was not a victim, but we know that she really is.”

When Orlando police searched Bosch’s home in October, they failed to find the missing teenager.

It was only in February when authorities finally got a lead after the U.S. Marshals began surveillance on the cell phone conversations of Bosch and his wife.

“Now that they know that she isn’t in the Philippines, they will be looking harder here,” Bosch reportedly told his wife in one of the phone calls.

Bosch was immediately arrested after authorities determined the victim was in “possible grave danger.”

Investigators found the girl in a one-bedroom flat in Tampa after Bosch pointed them to where she was.

It was later found that Bosch had paid cash for the apartment and that he paid the girl visits during weekends.

According to Osceola County detectives, Bosch is also being charged with enticing the girl to the United States and then abducting her from the foster care system that sheltered her.

He has reportedly requested bond because he wants to continue to run his business, Bosch Business Group.

Lawyers representing Bosch has argued that while the defendant is in jail, his company is losing roughly 30 clients per day.

A federal judge decided on Friday, however, that Bosch will remain in jail after investigators warned that Bosch remains a flight risk.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Karla Spaulding wrote that his assets from his business, Bosch Business Group, and his previous travels show he could very well afford to leave and would have the means to flee.

Feature Image via Orlando Sentinel