A 34-year-old former Kissimmee firefighter was sentenced to life in prison and a mother agreed to a 30-year sentence for testifying against her husband after both were found guilty of raping their 7-year-old daughter.
Argelio Pupo was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month, over two years after he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual battery on a child under the age of 12.
According to court records, Pupo and Morgan Keene, the mother of the victim, were arrested in November 2020 after the Apopka Police Department was called by multiple witnesses regarding a possible instance of child abuse.
During their investigation, police discovered that sometime in May 2020, Pupo and Keene forced their young daughter to perform sexual acts with the couple against her will. At the time, the victim told police that Pupo and Keene told her they were going to teach her about “making a baby.”
According to the victim, Pupo and Keene forcibly had vaginal and anal sex with the child until she bled from her vagina. Following the incident, Keene visited a local retailer and bought sewing kit items in order to stitch her daughter’s wounds.
In interviews, the victim detailed that Pupo, Keene, and the girl got naked and went into bed one evening before Pupo inserted his penis into both her vagina and “booty.” The girl said that the incident caused her vagina to bleed and that her vagina and buttocks were both sore afterwards.
While investigating the case, police were shown texts between Keene and a friend who worked as a nurse for an OB-RN. In those texts, Keene asked questions about how to stitch the wounds and told the nurse that Pupo had “stitched and handled” the matter. When the nurse insisted that she go see a doctor, Keene indicated that she was too embarrassed.
When police questioned Keene at the time, she indicated that she had never heard of the allegations previously and denied participating in the abuse. Keene also declined a request for consent to conduct a forensic exam on her daughter.
Pupo was found guilty of ten different counts of sexual battery on a child under 12, aggravated child abuse, neglect, molestation, and use of a child in a sexual performance. He was sentenced to life in prison on December 1.
Keene, who is scheduled to be sentenced on January 9, 2023, entered a plea in the case in August. According to the terms of the plea agreement, Keene pled Nolo Contendre to a charge of attempted sexual battery of a child under 12 and will spend 30 years in the department of corrections. As part of her agreement, Keene had to cooperate and testify in the prosecution of Pupo.