He was arrested at Tampa International Airport after getting off a plane, the Dade City Police Department said.

DADE CITY – A man has been charged with sexually battering and molesting two children over a three-year period, the Dade City Police Department said.

Phillips Edgardo Mendez, 49, of Dade City, was arrested Wednesday (Feb. 28) as he stepped off a plane at Tampa International Airport. He had been on a trip to Puerto Rico, police said. Mendez is charged with 11 counts of capital felony sexual battery and three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, each a life felony. Mendez was booked into the Orient Road Jail under a $700,000 bond.

The allegations involve sexual assaults on two different children younger than 12 over a three-year period, most recently in February. Police said the incidents came to light about Feb. 18 when the older of the two youths, who are now 10 years old, reported the assaults to their mother, who called police. Subsequent investigation and examinations led to the charges.

Dade City Police | Crime | Sexual Battery | Molestation | Arrests | Tampabay News

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