9/17/09
An Abiquiú man accused of holding a woman hostage for a month, raping her and threatening to kill her and his families had all but one felony charge against him dismissed Sept. 3 when he pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, according to the District Attorney’s office.
The District Attorney’s office dropped all but one charge against Juanito Jaramillo and amended the remaining charge to a lesser offense after the victim signed an affidavit stating she wanted to drop the charges against the defendant, Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Thwaits said last week. Jaramillo, 27, had been charged with kidnapping, three counts of rape, three counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony and two counts of intimidation or bribery of a witness.
Jaramillo had been held in the County Jail in Tierra Amarilla since January 2008. Instead of taking his case to trial this month, the District Attorney’s office extended the plea deal.
“It’s been 18 months and (the victim) didn’t want to cooperate at this point,” Thwaits said. “If the victim doesn’t want to cooperate that doesn’t tie our hands per se, but it makes us re-evaluate our case.”
No sexual assault exam was ever conducted on the victim, so the case was mostly reliant on the victim’s and witness’ testimony. Jaramillo was sentenced to 18 months in prison, which is typical for a fourth-degree felony such as false imprisonment. He had already served more time than that in custody and has been released, Thwaits said.
The charges stemmed from accusations made Jan. 30, 2008, by Jaramillo’s mother, Joann, and the victim. The victim told Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies, who had been summoned to the Abiquiú house where Juanito Jaramillo was living with his parents, that a man armed with a handgun had held her against her will for a month and raped her, court documents state. Juanito Jaramillo did not resist arrest but did deny the accusations.
Juanito Jaramillo had allegedly beaten the victim and threatened to kill both their families if she tried to escape, which she did on Jan. 27, 2008, only to have him drag her back, court documents state. Throughout the time the victim was being kept at the house, she was forced with violence and death threats to have sex with Juanito Jaramillo, documents state.
Joann Jaramillo confirmed the victim’s statements, but said she didn’t want to get involved because Juanito Jaramillo had threatened to kill her and her husband and burn down their house, according to court documents.
The case agent, retired Sheriff’s deputy Delfin Quintana, said last week he hadn’t heard anything about the case going to a plea, but didn’t disagree with the case’s resolution.
“If that’s what the (district attorney) thinks is best, then that’s what I think is best,” Quintana said.
Neither the victim nor Juanito Jaramillo could be reached for comment.