×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Defendant disputes claim of rape

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Nov 19, 2019

NASHUA – The lawyer for Nashua resident Antonio Luis Nicolao Fuentes said in court Tuesday that Fuentes has insisted “since day one” that the sex he had with a female acquaintance during their motel-room hookup nearly three months ago was consensual, and he never forced himself upon her.

But a county prosecutor’s account of the late-August episode told a different story about what allegedly took place that night and early morning.

“She said ‘no,’ but he didn’t listen,” Assistant County Attorney Michael Miller said at Fuentes’ Superior Court bail hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Fuentes’ alleged acts, Miller added, “went well beyond what is reasonably considered acceptable behavior.”

In the end, Judge Charles Temple, after listening to the attorneys’ arguments and asking Miller about the time that elapsed from Aug. 30, when the woman reported the allegations to police, and Fuentes’ arrest Monday, granted Fuentes personal recognizance bail. There are several conditions to this, including that he agree to home confinement and abide by a 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

He must also have no contact with the alleged victim, and remain at least 300 feet from wherever she is.

Fuentes, 40, of 17 1/2 Norton St., faces three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated felonious sexual assault, which are classified as special felonies.

The complaints accuse Fuentes of forcibly engaging in sex acts with the woman, and attempting to do so through the use of force.

Police said in a statement officers were called Aug. 30 to a local hospital for a reported sexual assault. The alleged victim told officers she and Fuentes went to the motel and checked in, but at some point she allegedly told him “she did not want to have sex,” according to Miller.

She accused Fuentes of forcing himself upon her, police said. She called for a ride and left a short time later and called a friend, who, according to Miller, urged her to go to a hospital and report the allegations to police.

She did so, and when officers went to the motel room – which Fuentes’ attorney, Sarah Amorin, said she paid for – they found Fuentes asleep.

He immediately denied the allegations, Amorin said, and after a brief conversation he and the officers parted ways.

Amorin underscored the fact that during the two and a half months since the alleged victim went to police, “there’s no evidence” Fuentes contacted her in any way.

And on Monday, when Fuentes learned police had issued a warrant for his arrest, he went to police headquarters “and turned himself in,” Amorin said.

Her client continues to “maintain that this was consensual (sex),” she said, adding that Fuentes is not a flight risk because “he intends to face these charges” against him.

Meanwhile, Temple, in asking Miller why police didn’t arrest Fuentes sooner, said police “had contact with both (him and the alleged victim) … while they were investigating, he was out on the street.”

Miller suggested investigators were being thorough, “more or less gathering additional evidence,” he said.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, or at dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *