Sarasota suspect arrested in 2006 child-sex case

A man wanted by Sarasota police for nearly 20 years in connection with a capital sexual battery was arrested Thursday in Tennessee, authorities said.

Eleazar Briones-Vega, 50, was taken into custody in White Pine, Tenn., about 50 miles northeast of Knoxville. According to the Sarasota Police, a collaboration between that agency, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshal Service made the arrest possible.

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Briones-Vega was wanted on 2006 charges of capital sexual battery after the victim, who was under the age of 10 at the time, reported that he inappropriately touched her for three years before leaving Florida.

Briones-Vega is being held at the Jefferson County Detention Center in Tennessee and is awaiting extradition to Florida.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim in 2006 identified her attacker by name in 2006.