A man who was reportedly forcing a 17-year-old girl to pick blueberries for him to pay off the debt for bringing her into the country illegally has been arrested in Lake County.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday received a call from the Office of Refugee Resettlement requesting a well being check on a juvenile residing in Leesburg.
When deputies spoke with the 17-year-old victim she informed them that Carlos Garcia-Diaz was forcing her to work picking blueberries to pay off the debt for bringing her into the country illegally. She advised she had been living in the United States for approximately one year after crossing the border from Mexico into Arizona.
Detectives who have been trained in investigating cases of human trafficking responded and took over the case. Garcia-Diaz was interviewed and admitted that the victim owed him money for expenses incurred by him related to bringing her into the country but he denied forcing her to work.
Garcia-Diaz was arrested and booked in at the Lake County Jail for Human Trafficking Of a Child Under 18; the charge has a bond of $25,000. The Department of Homeland Security is involved in this case and the juvenile victim was turned over to the Department of Children and Families for services.
