Two men sentenced for raping teenage girls in Sugar City home - East Idaho News
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Two men sentenced for raping teenage girls in Sugar City home

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the details in this story may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

REXBURG – Two men who each raped a teenage girl at a Sugar City mobile home will spend time behind bars.

Thor Fitzgerald Ware Jr. and Jose Nevarrez-Portillo, both 21, appeared before District Judge Greg Moeller on Monday for a sentencing hearing that lasted nearly four hours.

Ware and Nevarrez-Portillo invited two 16-year-old girls to Nevarrez-Portillo’s home in March. They were watching movies when Ware sexually assaulted one of the girls and Nevarrez-Portillo sexually assaulted the other girl in another room, according to court records.

Both defendants were laughing and joking between each other before sentencing, but their smiles quickly faded when Ware received a 12-year prison term. He had pleaded guilty to one rape charge in January as part of a plea agreement.

Ware sentenced

Stephen Hart, Ware’s attorney, called a witness to the stand who testified one of the rape victims told others the intercourse between her and Ware was consensual.

A witness said the victim was worried about “being in trouble with her mom,” so the pair agreed to tell police they were forcibly raped.

Hart spoke at length as he defended his client’s actions and maintained the activity was consensual.

Moeller reminded Hart multiple times that his client did not plead guilty to a rape charge that reflected some kind of force; rather, it was charge that is typically referred to as statutory.

Hart recommended that Ware be released from jail and given three years of probation.

Madison County Prosecutor Sid Brown mentioned that at the time of the offense, Ware was on probation for a sex crime in Oregon.

He had been arrested on one felony and three misdemeanors for similar acts, but as part of a plea agreement in Oregon, he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor and was placed on probation. He later moved to Idaho.

Brown presented other factors, including Ware’s “habitual dishonesty” involving tests and evaluations done during a pre-sentence investigation.

“He told detectives that he was a ladies’ man and that he had been with 74 women,” Brown said. “But later he told the psychosexual evaluator that he has only been with five women.”

Brown recommended Ware serve a four- to 12-year suspended prison sentence with one-year fixed time in the Madison County Jail and 10 years of probation with regular polygraph test.

“I know this would have never happened if I had waited until marriage, and that’s now what I intend to do,” Ware said before receiving his sentence.

“You were on probation for a sex crime, and now you have pleaded guilty to another one,” Moeller responded. “That’s something this court takes very seriously.”

Comparing Ware’s current charges in Idaho with those in Oregon, Moeller noted that Ware may not be a predator but more of an opportunist.

“You are very persistent and it appears that you take ‘no’ as more of a suggestion,” Moeller commented.

Moeller spoke about many tests Ware participated in as part of the pre-sentence investigation that were considered inconclusive because he failed so badly in telling the truth.

“I don’t think I know everything I should know about this defendant,” Moeller said. “And that is largely the defendant’s fault.”

Moeller sentenced Ware to a 12-year prison term with three years fixed and nine years indeterminate. Ware was given credit for 334 days served in county jail, ordered to pay a $2,500 fine, and he must register as a sex offender.

Moeller offered Ware the opportunity to take part in a retained jurisdiction program, also known as a RIDER, with the Idaho Department of Correction. As part of a RIDER, inmates are placed in the appropriate facilities to receive intensive programming and education.

Ware, who was visibly frustrated, shook his head while receiving his sentence and when asked if he had any questions, said, “I don’t want to say anything.”

Nevarrez-Portillo sentenced

Nevarrez-Portillo, who was rated as a very low risk and describe by pre-sentence investigators as truthful and fully cooperative, was sentenced to a suspended prison term of 10 years and ordered to serve one year in the Madison County Jail.

Moeller gave Nevarrez-Portillo credit for time served, 333 days, meaning he will be released to probation March 31. He will also have to register as a sex offender.

“I’d take it back in a moment if I could,” Nevarrez-Portillo told Moeller. “I understand the harm I caused her, and I take full responsibility for what I did.”

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