Bradenton man jailed for sexually assaulting minor, cops say — more than a year after report

What began as a Sarasota sheriff’s investigation in May 2018 has ended with Manatee County deputies arresting a 36-year-old roofer last week in the sexual battery of a teen girl.

According to the arrest report, the girl first reported the crime to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office because the first incident took place at a house under construction on St. Armand’s Circle where Reyes-Alberto was working as a roofer.

Deputies say Wilson Reyes-Alberto took the girl to that location and “pressured her into having sex,” because he was also sheltering her as a runaway. The girl told deputies that she did not want it to happen and yelled for him to stop, but he didn’t.

According to the report, Reyes-Alberto pressured the victim “on several occasions” and most of the activity took place at his Oneco residence in Manatee County in the 6000 block of 12th Street East.

Deputies interviewed Reyes-Alberto in January this year. They say he admitted to having sex with the girl, but claimed it was only one time. Deputies said he told them the encounter was consensual and that the girl “wanted to have sex with him,” according to the report.

Reyes-Alberto said the victim is only mad at him because he has since stopped driving her around to “buy her weed.”

According to court documents, the investigation continued through August, when a probable cause affidavit was filed and an arrest warrant was issued.

Reyes-Alberto was taken into custody on Nov. 8 and booked into the Manatee County jail on one count of sexual battery on a victim between the ages of 16 and 17. He remains in custody on a $7,500 bond pending a future court date.