MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) -- A Monroe man is behind bars after being accused of molesting a girl for over five years, beginning when she was 13, authorities said.

Antonio Markeys Sanders was arrested Thursday and charged with indecent behavior with juveniles, according to the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office said it received a complaint on July 19 that a sex offense occurred within the parish. Authorities made contact with an 18-year-old victim and they were told that the suspect allegedly began abusing the victim when she was 13 years old after she asked for a new iPhone.

According to court documents, investigators learned that the suspect allegedly told the victim that she had to do something for him if he was going to purchase the phone for her. The victim initially believed that she would have to do chores for the phone; however, the suspect allegedly started touching the victim's genital area and other areas on her body.

Investigators learned that the suspect allegedly touched the victim so many times that she lost count. Authorities were also told that the suspect allegedly constantly asked the victim for oral sex and attempted to force the victim to perform oral sex on him while she was asleep in her bedroom. Once the victim began to cry, the suspect immediately left the room.

According to court documents, the suspect also attempted to have sex with the victim and turned her phone off if she rejected his advances. With the victim's phone being off, it negatively affected the victim's school assignments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspect also allegedly told the victim to delete their messages once she read the texts.

Authorities also learned that the victim never told her mother because the suspect was "manipulative." On Aug. 17, a witness was interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center. The witness mentioned that they saw the suspect inappropriately touching the victim and found the victim crying after the incident.

Authorities made contact with the victim's mother and she allegedly confirmed that she saw messages in the suspect's phone. The messages included the suspect allegedly asking the victim about her genital area, according to court documents.

The mother was informed by the suspect that he was trying to send the messages to her instead of the victim. Authorities identified the suspect as Sanders.

Bond details were not released.

Latest stories