Police: Ex-UConn student sent messages to minor
A former University of Connecticut student was sentenced Tuesday for sexually assaulting an underage girl and served with a new arrest warrant after police say he met up with another minor last summer and sent her sexually charged text messages.
Leonardo Villanes-Medina, 23, was sentenced in state Superior Court in Torrington to 10 years, but will only be required to serve four months in prison followed by 10 years of probation after pleading guilty last fall to seconddegree sexual assault.
The charge was related to the 2018 sexual assaults
of a 14-year-old girl in Salisbury.
When he appeared for his sentencing, VillanesMedina
was also served with a new arrest warrant charging him with risk of injury/impairing the morals of a minor, Connecticut State Police said Thursday.
Villanes-Medina is being held on a $100,000 bond, according to state police.
Villanes-Medina is also facing a fourth-degree sexual assault charge, a misdemeanor, in connection with an alleged October 2021 rape on the Storrs campus. He has not entered a plea in this case and is scheduled to next appear in state Superior Court in Rockville on Feb. 17, according to court records.
Villanes-Medina is no longer a UConn student, Stephanie Reitz, a spokesperson for the school, said Thursday.
Reitz could not say when Villanes-Medina left the school or the circumstances of his departure. However, Reitz confirmed in December that VillanesMedina was still enrolled at the time.
In the latest case, state police said they began investigating Villanes-Medina on Aug. 1, when a parent discovered a “sexually suggestive text message conversation on their juvenile child’s cellphone.”
The conversation indicated the minor and the person who sent the message, later identified as Villanes-Medina, were planning to meet on July 31 at a business near the minor’s home to drink alcohol and give each other “hickeys,” according to state police.
Villanes-Medina later sent the minor a photo of the back of the business, saying he had arrived.
Hours later, text messages suggested “the two had met in person,” state police said. At one point, the minor told VillanesMedina they were “so drunk,” state police said.
The parent told police they noticed the minor had vaping materials, “which would be too expensive for the juvenile to afford,” according to state police.
Police said they confirmed the number belonged to Villanes-Medina.
• Those who have suffered from sexual violence can speak to specialists for support, information, advice or a referral by calling the free and confidential National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
Those who wish to chat online with trained specialists, which is also free and confidential, can also go to RAINN.org/GetHelp. Help is available 24/7.
• To report cases of child exploitation, visit CyberTipline.com.