Cape Coral church deacon accused of sexually assaulting 8-year-old

A Cape Coral church deacon has been arrested, accused of sexually assaulting a child when she was 8 years old.

Cape Coral police arrested 53-year-old Brian Patsy Rogolino, Thursday.

According to police, on Jan. 18, the victim told school staff that eight years ago, she was touched inappropriately by Deacon Brian Rogolino of the Church of Jesus Christ.

That teacher in Michigan reported what the child told her, and that’s how Cape Coral police became involved.

Cape Coral police made it clear: the victim’s family and Rogolino met at the church, but the crime did not happen at the church.

The victim in this case does not live in Cape Coral anymore.

Detective Frank Scarlato, with Cape Coral’s Special Victims Unit, worked on the case for months.

“Their families essentially became close to one another, and the incidents did occur at some points during this in the City of Cape Coral, I should say,” Scarlato said, “and that’s where we came to learn about this, and to your point, yes, she was, she was 8 years old at the time of the incident. However, that was 8 years ago, so she is 16 now and some specific memories of the investigation jog her memory of it, which led her to disclose the information to a school teacher.”

An investigation revealed Rogolino allegedly performed sex acts on the victim without her consent.

Rogolino is being charged with two counts of sexual battery on a child 12 years or younger.

He has since been transported to the Lee County jail with no bond.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.