A man who in 2021 raped a girl in Monroe County when he was 14 years old, and she was 11, has been convicted of charges in the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas and could face as many as 30 years in prison.

Enrique Mercado, who was initially charged in the court’s juvenile system before it was ruled he was to face charges as an adult, was found guilty of 10 charges, including rape and rape of a child, following a jury trial. Three of the 10 charges carry mandatory minimums sentences of 10 years each.

The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office announced the guilty verdict in the case and detailed the offenses that took place in the summer of 2011 at a campground in the Mount Pocono area.

The girl came forward in March 2024, and disclosed the crime to a counselor and then to her parents.

According to the court, Pocono Mountain Regional Police, including Detective Ryan Venneman, began an inquiry examining the allegations and gathering the facts corroborating the victim’s claims.

Testimony in the case showed the investigators learned that on the Fourth of July weekend in 2021 the victim stayed at the campground with her stepmother, father and her brother.

During that same weekend, Mercado, then 14, worked at the campground doing maintenance. There was no other connection between him and the victim.

The district attorney said the victim asked her father if she could go for a walk with her friends. Her father told her she needed to be back by 10 p.m.

The victim and another girl, along with Mercado, went walking around the campground, but after a while, her friend said she was going back to her campsite for the night.

The victim continued walking around the campground with Mercado. He took her on a path in the woods and violently and sexually assaulted her. During the assault, Mercado got a phone call from an owner of the campground who told him that the victim’s father was looking for her and he needed to get her back to her campsite.

Before letting her go, Mercado threatened to kill her and her brother if she told anyone what he did to her. Even though she suffered injuries as a result of the assault, the victim did not disclose to her family what Mercado did.

The girl’s report in 2024 led to the case being tried by lead prosecutor, First Assistant District Attorney Mike Rakaczewski. Because Mercado was a juvenile, he was first charged in juvenile court and the case was prosecuted by Rakaczewski and Assistant District Attorney James Fuller. The prosecutors said based on the heinous nature of the crimes, they sought to certify the case to adult court. Mercado underwent various psychological evaluations and after several hearings, the court found he was not amenable to treatment in the juvenile system and transferred the case to adult court.

Throughout the trial, the victim was supported by Yvonne Downs, director of the district attorney’s Victim Services Division. After the verdict, in a show of compassion and empathy, multiple members of the jury sought out Rakaczewski and asked if they could offer words of encouragement and emotional support to the victim. The victim met with the jurors, several hugged her and all offered kind words of support, the DA’s office reported.

Mercado is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 25 before Judge Janet Jackson. In addition to facing the lengthy prison terms, he will have to undergo a sexual offender’s assessment prior to sentencing to determine if he meets the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator.