FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A registered sex offender from Miami-Dade County has been arrested on seven felony charges after police say he broke into a Fort Pierce home and held three children hostage while their mother was at work.
Antonio Diaz Alvarez, 51, faces charges including kidnapping, molestation and home invasion with a deadly weapon following the Dec. 22 incident on Avenue E.
According to police, Diaz Alvarez sexually assaulted two girls, exposed himself and held a knife to a 13-year-old boy's throat. The teenager told police that Diaz Alvarez restrained them with a cord inside a bedroom and forced them to watch pornography and videos of executions.
Police arrested Diaz Alvarez five days later on Dec. 27, after finding him in a vacant home on North 14th Street. He had been staying one night at a neighbor's home before the break-in occurred.
Court records show Diaz Alvarez was a registered sex offender in Miami-Dade County who pleaded guilty to sexual battery with a weapon with serious personal injury in 2021. He was living at a recovery home for registered sex offenders, but was removed from the program in June after being caught with a prostitute.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement listed his address as "absconded." Court papers from Miami show he was kicked out of a group home Dec. 7, then became a fugitive on Dec. 17 for failing to report to an address in St. Lucie County.
Fort Pierce police said they don't currently have an indication of other victims but are encouraging anyone who has had interactions with Diaz Alvarez to contact the department due to the nature of the crime.
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