Gonzales man accused of raping child in field near Thibodaux

A suspect was arrested after deputies said he attacked and raped a 13-year-old girl last year near Thibodaux.

Marlon Rios, 28, of Gonzales, is charged with second-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping, according to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Rios was taken into custody during a traffic stop May 7 in St. Charles Parish, deputies said.

The Sheriff's Office began searching for Rios after receiving a call May 21, 2021, from the mother of the 13-year-old, who reported her child had been attacked and raped by a man in a sugar-cane field near Supreme Drive.

The girl’s father tried to apprehend the suspect in the field but he ran away, deputies said. Off-duty State Police and Terrebonne sheriff's deputies searched for the suspect but could not find him.

Police said the girl had been walking in an isolated area near her neighborhood when a man approached her from behind and sexually assaulted her. Following an investigation, detectives identified Rios as the suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Rios was transferred to the Terrebonne jail and was held on $500,000 bail.

This article originally appeared in The Courier, a sister publication.