Skip to Content

Jurors Deliberate In Indio Man’s Rape Trial

Jurors resumed deliberations today in the trial of a young man accused of sexually assaulting two Cathedral City women.

Juan Pablo Ramos, 19, faces charges of rape, penetration with a foreign object, false imprisonment, burglary and oral copulation by force.

The eight-man, four-woman jury received the case Tuesday afternoon and deliberated about two hours before leaving for the day.

Ramos is accused of sexually assaulting a woman on Jan. 24, 2009, at her residence on Avenue La Paz near Tortuga Road, and raping another woman in October 2007.

He was linked to the earlier crime when a DNA sample was matched in the unsolved cold case, according to Deputy District Attorney Kristi Belcher. He was 16 when that crime was committed.

The woman in the 2009 attack, who was identified in court as Jane Doe, testified last week a man smashed through the sliding glass door of her home.

“He pretty much tackled me to the ground. He ripped off my nightgown and my underwear,” she testified, adding that he digitally penetrated her.

The woman testified she yelled for her son to get out of the house and her attacker started to get up when he saw the boy running.

“I pulled him back down,” she said, adding that the man digitally penetrated her a second time.

The woman said she then sprayed her attacker in the face with Mace, causing him to leave the home.

In the earlier assault, Ramos allegedly entered the victim’s home and told her, “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this,” according to the prosecutor.

Ramos then allegedly raped the woman, who identified him as her attacker two years after the assault.

Ramos’ attorney, Michael DeFrank, has argued that his client had consensual sex with the woman in the 2007 case.

DeFrank also claimed that Ramos had no intention of sexually assaulting the second woman.

Article Topic Follows: News

Jump to comments ↓

KESQ News Team

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

News Channel 3 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content