ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A Central Florida businessman is accused of bringing a 12-year-old girl from the Philippines for a life of forced sex, investigators said.
Osceola County detectives said he claimed to be her stepdad, but the Department of Children and Families said that was a lie.
Andy Bosch is also facing charges for enticing the teenager to the United States and then snatching the teenager from the foster care system that tried to protect her.
Bosch remains in jail and has requested bond so that he can continue to run his successful Orange County business,
His attorney is arguing that Bosch is losing nearly 30 clients a day while behind bars, but investigators said with 11 homes in Central Florida and his constant travel outside of the country, he is a flight risk.
The Department of Children and Families said his ex-wife, Melody, illegally adopted the teenager.
DCF initially began investigating the case as potential human trafficking involving Bosch.
Investigators called it in illegal adoption, but DCF said Bosch's ex-wife raised the girl, who was a distant relative, as her own.
ICE agents said in a report that while the couple was married, Bosch’s wife appeared to be upset that Bosch and the teenager were developing feelings for one another outside the approved sexual arrangements.
Investigators removed the teenage girl from the couple and she was placed in foster care in March 2016.
For months, the girl would call and text Bosch, and the two would meet at various locations, like church or the grocery store, investigators said.
In October, she ran away from her foster home, investigators said.
"It seems like the victim in this case was a willing participant with the suspect, and that's very unfortunate," Osceola County Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Jacob Ruiz said. "It's very sad for us. Perhaps she had some relationship and felt that she was not a victim, but we know that she really is."
Osceola County detectives learned the teen’s foster sisters saw Bosch’s car near their school bus stop and on other outings.
The girls told detectives they felt uncomfortable around him and that he “seemed creepy.”
Orlando police got involved in October. They searched Bosch’s home and while they did not find the missing teenager, they noted in a report that Bosch appeared to be nervous.
With the girl still missing in February, U.S. Marshals began tracking Bosch and his wife via cellphone conversations, texts and surveillance.
In one of the phone calls, Bosch told his wife, “Now that they know that she isn’t in the Philippines, they will be looking harder here.”
Investigators determined the victim was in “possible grave danger” so they arrested Bosch, who then told Marshals they’d find the teenager in a Tampa apartment.
The girl was found in a one-bedroom efficiency in Tampa.
The owner of the efficiency told investigators Bosch paid cash for the apartment and visited the girl on the weekends.
He’s currently behind bars in Seminole County facing federal charges.
He’s also charged in Osceola County for interfering with custody by taking the girl, who is now 17, from foster care.
Despite there being four cars in the driveway, no one answered the door when Channel 9 went to Bosch's home.
Cox Media Group
