By Liz Adkins
InkFreeNews

Eduardo Lozano Maldonado

WARSAW — A Goshen man pled guilty to two felonies after having sexual intercourse with a child in Warsaw.

Eduardo Lozano Maldonado, 33, 308 S. 8th St., Goshen, pled guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor, a level 4 felony; and child solicitation, a level 5 felony.

Maldonado’s case was initially scheduled for a three-day jury trial in Kosciusko Superior Court One beginning on Monday, Sept. 30.

Maldonado will be sentenced on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

On Sept. 23, 2021, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of sexual misconduct with a minor that happened on July 31, 2021. A woman said she found messages between Maldonado and a child, which led the woman to believe the child had a sexual encounter with Maldonado.

The child was interviewed at Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center on Sept. 27, 2021. According to court documents, the child said Maldonado contacted them via Snapchat. They said Maldonado knew how old they were and that they had communicated online from February 2021 until they met in-person in July 2021.

During the interview, the child said they sent a photo of themselves in their underwear to Maldonado.

On July 31, 2021, Maldonado drove to the child’s home and took them to a parking lot in Warsaw, where inappropriate conduct occurred. The child said Maldonado had sexual intercourse with them.

On Oct. 1, 2021, the woman who discovered the communications between Maldonado and the child said she reactivated the child’s Snapchat account and messaged Maldonado while posing as the child. Maldonado agreed to meet with the child again after those conversations and went to the child’s home on Oct. 3, 2021, where he was contacted by law enforcement.

Maldonado told officers he met the child on Snapchat and believed they were 18 years old. He said he kissed the child on the cheek and that no other contact occurred.

Electronic messages between Maldonado and the child were provided to law enforcement. In the conversations, Maldonado admitted to having sexual intercourse with the child and gave specific details about the sexual encounter. In the communications, Maldonado expressed his wishes to have further sexual encounters with the child. He also sent an inappropriate photograph of himself to the child and asked the child to send him nude photos multiple times.