Goshen man pleads guilty to sexual misconduct and child solicitation charges

A Goshen man pleaded guilty to two felonies after he had sexual intercourse with a child in Warsaw.
Eduardo Lozano Maldonado, 33, 308 S. 8th St., Goshen, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 4 felony; and child solicitation, a Level 5 felony.
Maldonado’s case was originally scheduled for a three-day jury trial in Kosciusko Superior Court One, beginning Monday.
Maldonado will be sentenced on October 22nd.
On September 23, 2021, a deputy with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of sexual misconduct with a minor dated July 31, 2021. A woman said she found messages between Maldonado and a child, leading the woman to believe caused the child to have a sexual encounter with Maldonado.
The child was interviewed on September 27, 2021 at the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. According to court documents, the child said Maldonado contacted him via Snapchat. They said Maldonado knew how old they were and that they communicated online from February 2021 until they met in person in July 2021.
During the interview, the child said she sent Maldonado a photo of herself in her underwear.
On July 31, 2021, Maldonado drove to the child’s home and took him to a parking lot in Warsaw where inappropriate behavior occurred. The child said Maldonado had sexual intercourse with them.
On October 1, 2021, the woman who discovered the communication between Maldonado and the child said she reactivated the child’s Snapchat account and sent Maldonado a message while posing as the child. Maldonado agreed to meet with the child again after these conversations and went to the child’s home on October 3, 2021, where he was contacted by law enforcement.
Maldonado told officers he met the child on Snapchat and believed he was 18 years old. He said he kissed the child on the cheek and there was no further contact.
Electronic messages between Maldonado and the child were provided to law enforcement. During the interviews, Maldonado admitted to having sexual intercourse with the child and provided specific details about the sexual encounter. In the messages, Maldonado expressed his desire for further sexual encounters with the child. He also sent the child an inappropriate photo of himself and repeatedly asked the child to send him nude photos.