Hardeeville man charged in the sexual assault of a Bluffton child years ago, police say
A 58-year-old Hardeeville man was arrested late last week in the sexual assault of a Bluffton child more than 10 years ago, according to a Bluffton Police Department report.
Franciso Cardona faces one charge of criminal sexual conduct with a minor less than 11 years of age, Beaufort County court documents say.
Police were first notified about the allegations in August, when a Bluffton teen filed a report saying Cardona sexually assaulted her at least six times over the course of about five years. She said the first assault happened when she was 6 years old.
Cardona, who is not related to the teen, allegedly assaulted her inside a private Bluffton residence.
The teen said she didn’t immediately tell her family because, after each assault, Cardona “would threaten to hurt her and her family if she ever told anyone,” the report said. In a later interview, she also said that “she did not fully understand what had happened to her at the time and only realized the true magnitude of the sexual assaults as she got older.”
After a months-long investigation, police obtained an arrest warrant for Cardona in December, according to the report. They also notified the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office of the warrant, because Cardona’s current address was in Hardeeville.
Less than a month later, on Jan. 9, Cardona was arrested in Jasper County and extradited to Beaufort County.
Cardona was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center and remained incarcerated as of Thursday afternoon on an ICE hold, according to the jail log. No bond has appeared to be set.
First-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor is a felony and carries a penalty of 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
