An illegal immigrant has been charged with sexual assault after he allegedly impregnated his stepdaughter in hopes that having a child in the U.S. would prevent him from getting deported, according to police.

Horacio Alvarado, now 32, allegedly impregnated the 15-year-old girl near Milwaukee, Wis. several years ago, and assaulted her from when she was 14, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Alvorado was under the impression that having a so-called “anchor baby” born in the U.S. could protect him from deportation, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by the Journal Sentinel.

The girl had the child in 2012, but Alvarado had been assaulting her some time before that while her mother was at work, or at another home or in Alvarado’s car, the victim told police.

The assaults lasted four years before the girl apparently told her mother what happened and the family did a paternity test on the child at the Milwaukee County courts. Alvarado was shown to be the father in that test, which may have been part of a custody dispute.

The alleged victim, who is now 22, reported the assault to police sometime this fall, which resulted in charges of sexual assault and incest for Alvorado, and misdemeanor child neglect charges for the girl’s mother, Linda Alvarado.

Horacio Alvarado is scheduled for bond hearings Nov. 20, according to Milwaukee County Court records accessed by The Daily Caller News Foundation. His bail is set at $20,000, the Daily Mail reports, and Linda Alvarado has been released on $500 bail.

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