When police questioned a Bowling Green man accused of raping a 10-year-old family friend, the man reportedly said that the devil made him do it, according to an arrest citation.

The case against Elia Byiringiro, 22, who is charged with first-degree rape (victim less than 12 years of age), first-degree sodomy (victim less than 12 years of age) and tampering with physical evidence will be heard by a grand jury.

Warren District Court Judge John Brown found probable cause to send the case to a grand jury at the end of a preliminary hearing held Friday.

The Bowling Green Police Department arrested Byiringiro on Dec. 28, a day after the alleged assault.

BGPD Detective Ryan Dillon testified at the hearing that police were contacted on Dec. 27 by the 10-year-old’s mother, who reported her missing.

Police investigating that matter located the child found her later that day with other family members, learning that Byringiro had picked up her and her siblings and gotten some food for them, and that the 10-year-old then traveled with Byiringiro to the Family Dollar on Glen Lily Road to get some drinks, Dillon said.

The child was returned to her mother, and when police asked whether things were okay, she said they were fine, Dillon said.

“As far as we knew at the time, this was just a misunderstanding among family members about who had the juvenile,” Dillon said.

The next day, however, police were called to The Medical Center regarding a sexual assault complaint and learned that the 10-year-old had been brought there after complaining that morning of abdominal pain.

At the hospital, the child told Dillon that, when Byringiro took her to Family Dollar and parked at the store, he climbed into the back seat of the car and “violently raped her,” Dillon testified.

The detective said police recovered surveillance footage from the business that showed Byiringiro climb into the back seat of the car and remain there for eight minutes before getting out and going into the store.

The child was taken to the Barren River Area Child Advocacy Center and evaluated, and a doctor found injuries consistent with a sexual assault, Dillon said.

The 10-year-old told police she did not report the alleged incident the previous day because she was around several family members at the time.

“She was just stunned that it happened, she was in a great deal of pain,” Dillon said. “She said she tried to fight (Byringiro) off, but she was simply incapable of doing so.”

City police arrested Byiringiro at his home and brought him to BGPD headquarters for an interview.

Dillon testified that Byiringiro confessed to the allegations, but claimed that the contact was not forced.

According to his arrest citation, Byiringiro also told police he cleaned out the car shortly after the alleged incident.

Byiringiro remains in Warren County Regional Jail under a $100,000 cash bond.