Man accused of sexually abusing teen while she slept
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Editor’s note: This article contains details of a graphic nature. Reader discretion is advised.
IDAHO FALLS — A local man is accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old while she was sleeping.
Miguel Rodriguez, 26, was arrested on Tuesday, after allegedly climbing onto a bed with a 16-year-old, touching her and pulling down her shorts and underwear, all while she was sleeping. He is facing one felony charge of sexual battery of a minor who is 16- to 17-years old.
According to court documents, the incident took place Nov. 24. The victim, who resided in Arizona at the time, was staying at a relative’s home in Idaho Falls when Rodriguez and a couple of his friends arrived at the house around 3 or 4 a.m. Rodriguez was known to the victim and her relative.
At the time of the incident, the victim was sleeping in the living room on a hideaway bed alongside a female friend.
When asked if she was comfortable with Rodriguez and his friends staying the rest of the night, the victim said she was because she trusted Rodriguez. Shortly after, everyone reportedly went to sleep. Rodriguez was sleeping on a couch one or two feet away from the victim.
According to documents, the victim woke up to the feeling of being suffocated. When she looked around all she could see was Rodriguez staring at her, so she went back to sleep.
She woke again to the feeling of being moved around. That’s when she noticed her shorts and underwear had been pulled down around her thighs and Rodriguez was in bed next to her. She said she reached down to pull her clothes back up and discovered Rodriguez had uncovered his genitals, she told investigators.
She said she pulled and tied the drawstring on her shorts as tight as she could, rolled away from Rodriguez and began to cry because she didn’t know what to do in that kind of situation. She said she felt Rodriguez try to hold her hand, the hand that she was using to hold up her shorts, so she rolled farther away. After that, he reportedly got up and walked out of the house, leaving his two friends behind.
Court documents do not mention where the female friend was during the incident.
According to documents, the victim said she had a Snapchat conversation with Rodriguez where she asked him to tell her everything he did to her. He allegedly said he kissed her and touched her up and down her shirt and shorts.
The victim said she did not save the messages. According to the documents, investigators have sent a warrant to Snapchat for the messages.
Two phone calls between two of the victim’s relatives and Rodriguez were recorded by the relatives and turned over to investigators. According to documents, Rodriguez can be heard saying things to the effect that he knows he messed up and that he did what he did because he was drunk and because of drugs.
“When it finally clicked and I realized what … I was doing I got up and I left,” Rodriguez allegedly said in one of the recordings. “It’s not — it’s not like I — it’s not like I went all the way and did — ya know.”
When confronted with what he reportedly by investigators, Rodriguez denied ever saying anything to that effect. When investigators told him the calls were recorded he claimed it wasn’t him who was speaking and the victim and her relatives were all lying.
Rodriguez is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing April 24. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.