Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators arrested the man Friday.

LAKE WORTH — A Lake Worth man is accused of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old.

Edgar Ramos-Mendez, 23, was arrested Friday after Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators determined he was the father of the now 13-year-old girl's unborn baby. He faces charges of lewd battery and impregnation of a child and is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail with his bail set at $400,000. Jail records show he also has a hold for another agency, though the details of that case were not immediately available.

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Ramos-Mendez, a Mexico native and citizen living in Lake Worth, met the girl in a city park when she was 11, the girl said. He told her he was 19.

They exchanged numbers and went on a few dates, the girl told deputies in an interview last month.

He raped and impregnated her at his cousin's Lake Worth home when she was 12, she said.

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The girl called Ramos-Mendez while investigators listened in. He told the eight-month-pregnant middle school student that he loved her and planned to raise their daughter with her as a family.

The age of consent in Florida is 18 years old, according to Florida Statutes. People between the ages of 16 and 17 can give consent to a partner up to the age of 23. Anyone 24 years old or older commits a felony if he or she engages in sexual activity with someone under the age of 18.



