Lebanon: Man rapes mentally disabled 15-year-old

A Lebanon man has been charged by South Lebanon Township police with six counts in connection with the rape of a mentally disabled 15-year-old girl last year, police said.

37-year-old David Vazquez is accused of, among other things, sexual assault, rape of a mentally disabled person, sexual assault and seduction of minors.

According to a criminal complaint, a woman went to South Lebanon Township police on Oct. 17, 2023, and said her 15-year-old daughter had been raped by Vazquez. The girl has a developmental delay, mild intellectual disabilities, a speech delay and post-traumatic stress disorder, the criminal complaint states.

The woman had been friends with Vazquez for about four years before the incident, but the two had a falling out and blocked each other online. The woman told her daughter not to contact Vazquez, but Vazquez communicated with the girl through a PlayStation, police said.

The woman told police she noticed her daughter sneaking out of her house between 12:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. on October 16, and the girl told her mother what happened the next day.

The girl told police that Vazquez led her behind an electrical box between sheds and began sexual contact with her, and she did not give him permission to do so or ask Vazquez to do what he did, the complaint states. The 15-year-old remained silent because she knew he was stronger than her, the complaint states.

Vazquez told the girl to sneak out of the house to meet him or he would beat her with a belt, the girl later told a SAFE activist in a Childline report.

State police conducted DNA testing on the girl and Vazquez. His DNA was found in the underwear the girl was wearing when she was raped, the criminal complaint states.

Police obtained an arrest warrant and arrested Vazquez. He was put on trial on Saturday.

Vazquez is in the Lebanon County Jail because he was unable to make the $250,000 bail.