A 48-year-old Perry County man was sent to the Schuylkill County Prison for on charges he raped a child and other related offenses.

Tamaqua police said that Gerardo Rodriguez, 48, of Marysville, began abusing a girl when she was 6 years old and he was living in the borough.

The girl is now 15, police said.

According to police, officers received an emailed ChildLine report mentioning sexual assaults by Rodriguez and involving the girl.

She was interviewed by the Child Advocacy Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Harrisburg and said the abuse began when she was 6 and Rodriguez made her watch pornography. At this time he began kissing her.

By the time she was 12, she said, Rodriguez began to engage in sexual intercourse with her.

Police said the assaults occurred at different locations, including two properties where she lived in Tamaqua.

She said that Rodriguez also assaulted her in a hotel near Harrisburg.

She told officials that she thought it was weird, it made her uncomfortable and that she was afraid of Rodriguez because he was an angry person.

Police said the girl was forced to take what she believed to be birth control pills.

She said the last time it happened was about a year ago.

Through an interview, police determined that the abuse occurred in the 100 block of Center Street in Tamaqua, and also at an apartment on West Broad Street in Tamaqua.

Rodriguez admitted to the charges, according to police.

Police charged Rodriguez with rape of a child, rape-forcible compulsion, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person younger than 16, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child younger than 16; endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and indecent exposure.

Rodriguez was arraigned on the charges Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge James Reiley, who set bail at $500,000 straight cash.

Rodriguez was committed to the Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post bail.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 12 before Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer in Tamaqua, according to court papers.