|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A Menlo College student accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl after allegedly providing her with marijuana and alcohol is facing new rape charges after police say they found a second alleged victim.
Andres Aguilar, 19, allegedly gave a 17-year-old girl alcohol and then raped her in San Jose on April 4, one month before he allegedly raped the 12-year-old girl after giving her marijuana and alcohol in his dorm room on the Atherton school’s campus, San Mateo County prosecutors said.
The Atherton Police Department said it learned of the second alleged victim after getting a search warrant for Aguilar’s phone following his arrest. On it, they discovered texts from the 17-year-old girl confronting Aguilar, Deputy District Attorney Kara Szkotak said in an interview with this news organization. Police were able to identify the girl, who provided details about the alleged assault.
The 17-year-old told police that Aguilar raped her in San Jose while she was intoxicated. When her parents learned she was missing, they tracked her phone to locate her. Her parents later found her and Aguilar in a car and when confronted, he allegedly drove off and took the girl to his dorm room, where he left her. Prosecutors also say he allegedly stole her bank card and some cash.
In both cases, Aguilar is accused of providing alcohol or marijuana to underage girls before sexually assaulting them. As first reported by this news organization, Aguilar allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl on May 5 after giving her alcohol and marijuana. During the assault, the girl repeatedly told him “no” and to stop, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. Afterward, Aguilar allegedly had Plan B emergency contraception delivered by DoorDash to the college because he was concerned the girl would become pregnant, prosecutors said.
The following day, the girl’s teacher reported the allegations to child protective services.
Szkotak said that victims of sexual assault on college campuses may try to minimize what happened and can be reluctant to come forward to authorities.
“Unfortunately, it’s underreported on college campuses. Many victims think, ‘It was just a one-time thing’ or ‘the perpetrator didn’t know what they were doing’ or ‘we were both drunk,’” Szkotak said. “The difficulty with college campuses is a lot of women and men tend to brush it off as just a ‘college experience,’ when they are actually victims of rape.”
Szkotak said that by coming forward, victims help themselves and can help protect others.
“Sometimes, it’s for their own sake. Victims report after an assault that, ‘I feel something is wrong with me.’ As we see with this case, a lot of times the perpetrator ends up walking away and doing it to someone else,” Szkotak said.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office filed an amended complaint during Aguilar’s arraignment and added several enhancements, in addition to new counts of kidnapping, forcible rape and theft. Aguilar has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
If convicted, Aguilar faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison.
Menlo College previously told this news organization that it takes all allegations of criminal conduct seriously but declined to say whether it sent out notices of the alleged assault to students or staff. The private college did not respond to questions from this news organization about the discovery of another alleged victim who was brought to the campus.
Aguilar has been held without bail since being arrested on May 12. A preliminary hearing on July 8 was rescheduled while police investigated the possibility of a second victim.
