On Tuesday, August 1st shortly before 10am, deputies were contacted by a social worker for a company called Church World Service (CWS), based out of Houston, TX. CWS is contracted through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. CWS reported to deputies that they had been contacted by a 17 year-old girl who was currently living at 3501 Saltillo Road and has been the victim of physical abuse and sexual abuse by her father. Deputies immediately responded to the location, removed the victim and transported her to BraveBe Child Advocacy Center for a forensic interview. The victim was taken into temporary custody and turned over to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for placement.
The preliminary investigation has revealed that the perpetrator in this case, 34 year-old Alvaro Gomez-Lopez, was currently living at the Saltillo Road address after having illegally entered the United States about six months ago. Recently, Gomez-Lopez had financially made arrangements for his daughter to be illegally brought into the United States from Guatemala and transported to him without her consent. Since arriving into the home in Lancaster County around July 16th, 2023, Gomez-Lopez had forced the victim to work inside and outside of the home to repay the debt incurred for the transportation. The victim also reported that food had been withheld from her for five days prior to contact with Sheriff's Deputies. The investigation also revealed that the victim was subjected to sexual contact by Gomez-Lopez.
In the evening hours of August 1st, Gomez-Lopez was taken into custody without incident at the Saltillo Road address. He was lodged at the Lancaster County Adult Detention Facility for felony child abuse and cited for sexual assault in the 3rd degree. Deputies have since been working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration Customs Enforcement regarding Gomez-Lopez's immigration status.