DNA match leads to arrest in 2015 Miami Beach child sex battery investigation, cops say

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A man has been arrested in connection with a child sexual battery investigation dating back more than a decade after investigators said newly tested DNA evidence linked him to the case at a Miami Beach park.

Read more Georgia Republicans dig in for runoffs for Senate and governor as campaigns go into overtime

According to detectives, 46-year-old Freddy Zelaya was arrested Tuesday by officers with the Miami Beach Police Department following a renewed investigation into an incident that occurred on Oct. 11, 2015, near the 7800 block of Atlantic Way in Miami Beach.

Detectives reopened the case after Zelaya allegedly “confided in his stepson” that in 2015 he had gone to the beach near 79th Street and Collins Avenue and “had taken a young girl to a portable restroom in the nearby area and had sexually abused her,” according to his arrest report.

The report states that investigators then searched archived MBPD’s Special Victims Unit cases from 2015 and identified a sexual battery investigation tied to the same date and location at North Beach Oceanside Park.

According to police, the victim’s father told officers he had been at the park with his four children when he realized his daughter was missing.

The report states he later saw the child “exiting out of the bushes being held by the hand of Zelaya.” When the father called out, Zelaya allegedly ran southbound on the boardwalk before escaping.

The arrest report states that the girl claimed Zelaya pulled her by the arm into a portable restroom, kissed her cheeks, pulled down her pants and touched her genital area. Detectives said the child told her mother Zelaya warned her not to say anything and claimed he had a knife in his backpack.

Read more Takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries: Massie’s loss leaves no doubt about Trump’s power over the GOP

Police said multiple DNA samples were collected from the victim and submitted to a Miami-Dade County crime laboratory in October 2015. According to the report, investigators later obtained a warrant for Zelaya’s DNA in January 2026.

Detectives said Zelaya denied sexually abusing the child when interviewed earlier this year and agreed to provide a DNA sample.

According to the arrest report, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office crime laboratory notified detectives on May 18 that the DNA profile obtained from evidence collected from the victim matched Zelaya.

Jail records show Zelaya is facing one count each of molestation of a child older than 12 but younger than 18 and kidnapping a child under 13 with lewd and lascivious intent.

As of Wednesday morning, the Venezuelan national was being without bond at the Metrowest Detention Center.

Read more Oregon voters reject Democrats’ gas tax increase as Iran war causes prices to soar