Judges denies admitted rapist’s request to be released from jail
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REXBURG — A convicted rapist’s request to be released from county jail until he is sentenced has been denied.
Jose Nevarrez-Portillo, 20, appeared before District Judge Gregory Moeller earlier this week asking to be released from jail pending sentencing on a felony rape charge.
Nevarrez-Portillo was originally charged with forcible sexual penetration by a foreign object and forcible rape for an incident that occurred March 31.
Court documents show a 16-year-old girl and a teenage friend met up with Nevarrez-Portillo and Thor Ware Jr., 20, at Nevarrez-Portillo’s mobile home in the Harris Trailer Court on Third South in Sugar City. Ware and Nevarrez-Portillo allegedly forced the girls to have sexual intercourse with them.
Nevarrez-Portillo pleaded guilty in August and as part of the agreement, the forcible penetration charge for Nevarrez-Portillo was dropped and forcible rape charge downgraded to statutory rape.
As a condition of the agreement, Nevarrez-Portillo agreed to testify against Ware, who is also facing a felony rape charge. Nevarrez-Portillo agreed that he would remain in custody and wait to be sentenced until he fulfilled his agreement to testify truthfully against Ware.
At the time, Ware was due for trial in October. Since then, Ware’s trial date had been set back two more times. Nevarrez-Portillo and his attorney, Dan Dummar, argued that he should be released as it was unfair to keep him in jail while Ware’s trial continued to be postponed.
Moeller noted that the agreement did not specify a trial date and sentencing on charges of rape typically entail a prison sentence, so it made more sense to keep Nevarrez-Portillo incarcerated as he would be afforded time served.
Moeller also noted the state amended the complaint to reflect more of a statutory rape charge, however, the victim’s statements to a pre-sentencing investigator indicate the rape was forcible.
The victim’s mother told the court her daughter is afraid of Nevarrez-Portillo being released.