Authorities: Man Sexually Abused Mentally Disabled Girl, 13

A Texas man was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexually abusing a teenage girl who is mentally disabled last year at a Dunedin home, according to authorities.

Detectives say Christian Egan, 40, "engaged in sexual acts" at least three times with the girl, who was 13 at the time, at a residence and in his car in late August/early September of 2011.

Egan now resides in Texas but was living in Dunedin at the time of the alleged crimes, authorities said. He was visiting Pinellas County on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday when sheriff's detectives made contact with him, and he later confessed to the crimes during a voluntary interview, they said.

The girl, now 14, lives in Michigan and "recently confided to her friends at school that the suspect had engaged her in oral sex while she was visiting Pinellas County" last year, a sheriff's office spokesperson said in a media release.

One of the friends reported it to a school counselor, who in turn contacted
the local police department, authorities said. An investigation was launched and the information forwarded to the Pinellas Sheriff's Crimes Against Children Unit.

No further details were released to protect the girl's identity, authorities said. She was known to the suspect at the time of the crimes, they said.

Egan was charged Wednesday with three counts of sexual battery on a mentally disabled minor and was taken to Pinellas County Jail without further incident. He was being held Wednesday night without bond and awaiting trial.

The investigation continues.