SARASOTA, Fla.- The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested John Paul Pica, Jr., 35, of 2249 Benson Street in Sarasota, for sexually assaulting a three-year-old boy.

Detectives learned that the boy had been playing outside on the afternoon of February 6, 2012, but when the child’s caregiver went to get him she heard his voice coming from inside Pica’s home. The woman knocked on the door but received no response. She entered the home and found Pica and the child under a blanket in Pica’s bedroom. Pica jumped up and was wearing only shorts. The boy later described to family members what had occurred, and he repeated details of the crime during a specialized interview at the Child Protection Center.

Pica was booked into the Sarasota County Jail today and charged with one count of Sexual Battery on a Child. He is a career criminal with 43 arrests since he was 16 for crimes including burglary, battery and drugs.