Police arrest man who victim says was not a romantic partner
Morgan Hill – A San Jose woman was allegedly raped at a New Year’s Eve party at an apartment in Morgan Hill.
Francisco Gomez, Jr., 23, of Morgan Hill, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail early on New Year’s Day on one count of rape of an intoxicated person, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
It is the Morgan Hill Times’ policy not to name sexual assault victims.
Gomez “did not admit or deny the allegation” to officers when he was arrested, Swing said.
The 20-year-old victim knew Gomez, Swing said. She was sleeping at an apartment in the Terracina Apartments, 230 East Dunne Ave., after attending a party there. She woke up to find Gomez on top of her, having sexual intercourse with her, she reported. She tried to push him off, Swing added, but Gomez forced her to stay down, pinning down her arms with his hands.
When he stopped raping her, the victim told police, he got up and didn’t restrain her; she left the apartment and called a friend to pick her up. The friend took her to Kaiser Santa Teresa hospital for examination.
Though the victim said she knew Gomez, they were not involved in a dating or romantic relationship, she told police.
Swing said Gomez did not have any weapons in his possession. The victim had bruises on her arms, but no other injuries, according to the report.
“As a rule, the crime of rape is not frequently reported,” Swing said, adding that statistics are often not an accurate reflection of how often the crime occurs “because of the personal nature of the crime and the sense of personal violation a woman feels.”
The alleged rape took place after 4:30am on Jan. 1. Swing said the victim reported to police that she had gone to bed at approximately 4:30am, and she woke up shortly afterward. Kaiser staff called MHPD at 6am to report the incident, and an MHPD officer responded to the hospital to talk to the victim, who was later moved to Valley Medical Center for examination.
Officers responded to the apartment where the alleged rape occurred to talk to the other partygoers. There were approximately eight people in the apartment, according to the report, and officers had to wake people up to talk to them.
Gomez was arrested at the apartment.
Swing said while it was clear people were drinking during the party, the level of intoxication won’t be known until toxicology test results are returned.
Swing said the victim was referred to Community Solutions, a social services agency.
“We are fortunate to have Community Solutions in the South County,” he said. “The agency provides rape crisis services as well as advocacy for victims. On all sexual assault cases, we contact Community Solutions.”
Amy Molica, assistant program director for the agency’s “Solution to Violence” program, said that Community Solutions takes more than 500 crisis calls per year; in 85 percent of rape cases, the victim knows the perpetrator, according to statistics.
“For obvious reasons, that makes reporting the crime more difficult for the victim,” she said.
But Community Solutions advocates do not encourage women to report these incidents to police unless it is the victim’s decision to do so, she added.
“We’re not so much concerned with having them report the crime as with providing them with their options, reporting being one of them,” she said. “We offer what we call ‘woman-defined advocacy,’ in which each individual makes decisions for themselves. By deciding for them, we would be duplicating the controlling behavior that is a part of the incident itself.”
All advocacy and counseling services are free of charge, Molica said. Contact the 24-hour, confidential and bilingual crisis line at 408-779-2115. Anyone interested in becoming an advocate can contact Molica by calling the crisis line.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
