Lehigh Acres man gets life for battery, molestation of child

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. A 35-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for sexual battery and molestation of a child as young as 8 years old.

Francisco Resendiz of Lehigh Acres has also been designated as a sexual predator, the state attorney’s office said. The abuse took place over a two-year period beginning in 2009 when Resendiz was renting a room in the home where he had contact with the 8-year-old victim.

The victim later disclosed what happened after she went to a doctor for an exam and refused to let the male doctor touch her, the state attorney’s office said. That led to Resendiz’s arrest in 2014. He was convicted in November.

His sentencing was delayed until Thursday so he could be sentenced in federal court on illegal re-entry after deportation, the state attorney’s office said.