Defense attorneys representing two men accused of raping a
13-year-old girl in Christmas Hill Park last November are still
waiting to receive evidence before their clients enter pleas.
Defense attorneys representing two men accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in Christmas Hill Park last November are still waiting to receive evidence before their clients enter pleas.
Cresencio Evarado Blas, 29, and Benancio Quinones, 49, face multiple sex and drug charges – including five counts of child rape as well as furnishing marijuana and a controlled substance to a minor. The are being represented by attorneys from the Office of the Public Defender and the Alternate Defenders Office. Quinones’ attorney, Irma Gallardo, would not say what type of evidence she and Blas’ attorney were awaiting.
About 6 p.m. Nov. 18, the girl was walking near the red barn in Christmas Hill Park when she ran into Blas and Quinones, who were homeless at the time and living in an encampment on the ranch side of the park between the levee and Uvas Creek, according to court documents. The men “befriended” the girl, and she followed them back to their encampment, where she smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine and drank part of a can of beer with the two men, according to police reports. They then raped her simultaneously.
Although the men allowed the girl to leave, she returned to the park about two hours later and asked them to use their cell phone, according to police reports. Before they let her use the phone, they raped her again, according to police reports.
The victim eventually notified someone of the attack and was taken for treatment at a local hospital, according to police. Police went out to the scene of the crimes and found the two men, according to police. The girl confirmed the men as her assailants, and police arrested them.
Blas and Quinones are currently in custody at the Main Jail in San Jose. Their bail was set at $1.2 million at an arraignment Nov. 23. The crimes carry the potential for life in prison, police said.
Blas and Quinones will appear in court for a plea hearing 9 a.m. March 12 at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
