Two homeless men raped a 13-year-old girl in Christmas Hill Park
Wednesday night after giving her
”
various intoxicants,
”
police said.
Two homeless men raped a 13-year-old girl in Christmas Hill Park Wednesday night after giving her “various intoxicants,” police said.
About 6 p.m., the girl was walking in the south Gilroy park when two homeless men – Cresencio Eberardo Blas, 29, and Benancio Quinones Leon, 49 – who she had not met before, “befriended” her, according to police. The trio hung out for a “few hours” while the men “provided the victim with various intoxicants,” according to police. Then, “without warning,” the men attacked and raped the girl several times, according to police.
Although the men did not have weapons, they managed to restrain her, Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said. He would not specify how.
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 – who had built an encampment on the levee – according to police. The girl confirmed the men as her assailants, and police arrested them. One of the men had unspecified items that belonged to the girl on him at the time of his arrest.
The two men were later booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for rape, aggravated sexual assault of a child, lewd and lascivious acts on a child, forcible acts of sexual penetration, false imprisonment, and providing narcotics to a minor, Gallacinao said. Blas was also arrested for sodomy. The crimes carry the potential for life in prison, police said.
So far, “this appears to be an isolated incident,” Gallacinao said. “They are not suspects in any other cases in the area that we’re aware of but the investigation is still in the preliminary stages.”
He would not say what the girl was doing in the park when she met the men or what type of intoxicants the men gave the girl. In their booking photos, both men had bloodshot, watery eyes. A fine, white powder also ringed Blas’ right nostril.
The two men will not appear in court for arraignment until Monday at the earliest, Gallacinao said.
The number of homeless men and women typically surges in Gilroy during the winter when the cold weather shelters open, police said. People without homes in the surrounding communities make their way to Gilroy when the temperature drops and the National Guard Armory on Wren Avenue opens its doors, Gallacinao said. The seasonal, nightly shelter will open Nov. 30 and stay open through March. During the day, however, those homeless people have no place to go, homeless advocates said.
Paying attention to the homeless is a high priority, Gallacinao said.
“It’s definitely one of the areas where we have a small population of the community with the highest number of contacts with police,” he said.
Often, the public blames the victim in rape and domestic violence cases, said Perla Flores, program director of the Solutions to Violence department at Community Solutions.
“Unfortunately, regardless of what day and age we live in, there’s still that mentality that someone provoked their own rape,” she said.
With an array of counseling services that are confidential and prevention and educational workshops, Community Solutions is working to combat that misguided notion, she said. Community Solutions also offers self-defense classes.
In the past, victims of sexual assault had to drive up to San Jose to receive treatment, support and counseling. Thanks to a new Gilroy center for the county’s Sexual Assault Response Team, victims and local police have a more convenient location to begin the investigation and recovery process.
“The main focus is making the process a little more bearable for the victim,” Flores said.
Though Flores would not say if the girl was taken to the new SART center, its purpose is to serve victims 12 and older. Victims younger than 12 will still need to be transported to Valley Medical Center in San Jose to receive assistance from a pediatrician, Flores said.
The exam, which can last anywhere from four to eight hours, is traumatic for the victims but understanding, patient nurses work to provide as much support as possible, Flores said.
Anyone with information about the incident can contact Detective Martin Beltran at 846-0334. Anonymous parties can call 846-0330.
