A Ridgeland man who followed a 12-year-old girl into the bathroom of a restaurant where he was employed, forced her into giving him her number and address, and raped her hours later, has been sentenced to two decades in prison.

According to the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, Madison and Rankin counties' District Attorney John K. Bramlett Jr. detailed the case in a press release which stated that the 12-year-old victim had been raped after she visited an unnamed Ridgeland restaurant where 38-year-old Valentin Ariosto Alfronso-Arguello was an employee in August 2018.

The release said the 38-year-old followed her into a bathroom and forced her into giving him her phone number and address.

That same night, at around 3 am, the victim's mother woke up to find the light in her daughter's bedroom on, but soon realized that she was not in the home.

When the mother opened the front door, she found her daughter walking up to the house and a pickup truck speeding away with one its doors open.

The girl later told her father that Alfronso-Arguello had texted her after his shift ended, saying he wanted to see her and that by the time she saw the messages, he was already on his way to the house.

When he arrived at the residence, she said she left her room and got into the truck with the 38-year-old, which is when he held her down and forced himself on her. She said he raped her despite her repeatedly telling him "no" and trying to get out of the truck.

The Children's Advocacy Center also interviewed the girl and found that her story was consistent with what she had told her father, as well as the nurses at the hospital she visited following the incident.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office subsequently arrested Alfronso-Arguello, with a review of his phone showing text messages to and from the victim and further corroborating her allegations. He then signed a waiver of rights and provided law enforcement with a statement confessing to the crime.

Alfronso-Arguello, an illegal immigrant, was sentenced to 20 years in prison this past week after he was found guilty of sexual battery. Eight of those years have been suspended, meaning he will have to serve 12 years behind bars.

Assistant District Attorney Katie Moulds said because he was living illegally in the country, he would be subject to deportation after he served his prison sentence. In the scenario that he isn't, he will have to register with the Mississippi Sexual Offender Registry and five a further five years of supervised probation.

Bramlett described the 38-year-old as "evil" and "sick" and expressed his gratitude to the Madison County Sheriff's Office for their work investigating the case.

"The District Attorney’s office will continue working diligently making sure that those who hurt our children pay the consequences for their sick crimes. We have zero tolerance for people like Alfronso-Arguello and we will continue working toward ridding our streets of criminals like him," he said.