FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A man from Palm Coast was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after molesting a 6-year-old girl for three years in Flagler County, authorities said.
Monserrate Teron, 59, was sentenced to two life terms and 30 years in prison, all to run concurrently, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
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Detectives with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Case Unit began the investigation in September 2020 when the victim, 9, reported to her parents that Teron had been molesting her since she was approximately 6 years old.
“At approximately 5:53 p.m. on May 10, the Flagler County Communications Center was alerted that Teron’s license plate had been detected within the county,” authorities said.
Communications Specialists then coordinated with the Community Policing Division to safely arrest of Teron in the parking lot of Wawa on State Road 100 in Palm Coast, according to investigators.
Teron was convicted in July at his second jury trial of two counts of sexual battery on a person less than 12 years of age and lewd or lascivious molestation on a person less than 12 years of age.
“This defendant molested a young girl for three years,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza stated in a press release. “It is a horrific case of child sex abuse, but Teron will spend the rest of his life in prison and not hurt this victim or another child again.”
Teron’s first trial ended with the jury deadlocked. Teron indicated at a hearing before his second trial that he had no interest in a plea deal. Prosecutors at one time had offered 25 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark prosecuted the case for the State and Circuit Judge Terence Perkins presided over the case.
Authorities did not reveal the relationship between Teron and the victim in his arrest report.