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Monroe man's rape trial begins

Star Beacon - 1/23/2020

Jan. 23--JEFFERSON -- The trial of a man accused of rape began Wednesday with the prosecution painting a picture of an abusive man and his lawyer questioning aspects of the victim's story.

A jury of eight women and four men heard accounts from members of law enforcement and the victim in the case of Christopher Pineda, 47, of Monroe Township. Pineda faces two counts of rape, and single counts of obstructing official business, resisting arrest, kidnapping and domestic violence.

The case stems from a Nov. 2, 2018 incident in which Pineda is accused of assaulting a woman and forcing her to have sex. He is accused of choking the victim, pulling hair from her head and holding her against her will while in a violent and intoxicated state.

Assistant county prosecutor John Lewis said during opening statements that Pineda, whom the victim had questioned for being drunk, admitted to choking the woman in the living room of a home and she felt like a hostage.

"He began choking her and strangling her telling her '[expletive]. you're going to die,' " Lewis told jurors.

Pineda is accused of sexually assaulting the victim once in the living room and she attempted to shout out for her phone's Google application to call 911, Lewis said. After this the victim briefly went into the kitchen where she drank some pop and smoked a cigarette and Pineda then ordered her to go upstairs to a bedroom.

In the bedroom Pineda is accused of raping the victim again. Afterward, he passed out and the woman reportedly went downstairs where she let some dogs outside and called a cousin whom she told to call 911.

"He told her he could rape her if he wanted to," Lewis said. "And ladies and gentleman he did. He raped her again. He forced her to have [sex] against her will."

When deputies from the sheriff's office arrived the victim ran to them and Pineda was found naked in an upstairs bedroom, Lewis said. He was tased three times before they could get handcuffs on him and because they feared he may have been reaching for a weapon, deputy Patrick Evans testified.

The victim took the stand and testified and answered questions for more than an hour about how she was choked and strangled, how her clothes and the zipper on her pants were ripped and how she did not consent to any sexual activity.

Pineda was "drunk and violent," she said.

Lewis asked the woman why she didn't feel safe after she got out of the home.

"I was just brutally attacked," she said.

Pineda's court-appointed attorney Christopher Boeman said prior to the crime in question the victim believed Pineda and her daughter were plotting to kill her for her deceased father's inheritance. The victim acknowledged that she had questioned such things after the attack because she was trying to make sense of why she was assaulted by Pineda.

Boeman also brought up other crimes Pineda is accused of, for which he has other open cases, in which he is accused of assaulting the victim. Boeman asked whether the victim ever sought a protection order against Pineda and she said she did not.

There is a home security system with cameras that could have captured video of what happened, but the system wasn't armed and the cameras weren't on. Boeman questioned why the victim wouldn't have had cameras on and activated if she suspected Pineda was plotting to kill her.

The victim said the system was only ever activated if the home is empty. She also testified that she declined medical treatment after the attack, including a rape-kit test. She did go to a hospital two days after the attack to have such a test performed.

"I had already given my statements and pictures were taken," the victim said when asked by Lewis why she didn't go that night for a rape test. "I felt dirty."

Lewis asked the woman whether she wished the cameras had been on, to which she said yes. When asked if she felt safe when she got outside the victim said no.

"I don't feel safe now," she said.

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