Rape trial underway in Auglaize County

Yahoo

29-04-2025

Apr. 28—WAPAKONETA — Jurors in the trial of a St. Marys man charged with rape, gross sexual imposition and child endangerment viewed a videotaped interview with the alleged victim as the trial of Juan Rangel got underway Monday in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court.
During that interview, the junior high-aged girl told a forensic interviewer from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus that Rangel engaged in vaginal intercourse with her on two occasions — once when she was 8 and again when she was 13 — and also forced her to fondle his genitals, took nude photos of her and on another occasion "put his mouth on my private parts."
In her opening statements to jurors, Assistant Auglaize County Prosecutor Laia Zink said testimony in the trial will show that Rangel sexually assaulted the underaged girl victim on multiple occasions. The most recent incident took place at a St. Marys residence, the prosecutor said.
Another of the rapes is alleged to have taken place at a migrant camp that featured a shared shower. The alleged victim is heard on video telling the forensic interviewer that Rangel "touched my private spot with his thing. It hurt."
The young girl told of another sexual episode when she was 13 "when he put his thing in me."
Annette Santa Maria, the Nationwide hospital interviewer, described the alleged victim as "quiet" and said the girl "appeared nervous" during the Oct. 30 interview. She said representatives of law enforcement and Children Services watched the interview on video from an adjacent room.
The alleged victim is expected to take the witness stand later in the trial.
"This is something the victim finds difficult to talk about, but you will hear from her directly during the trial," Zink said.
Auglaize County Public Defender Nick Catania, who is representing Rangel, told jurors the state's case consists of "a mother persuading her daughter to make up a story about my client. There is no physical evidence whatsoever, and we contend that these alleged incidents did not happen. You will hear a lot of inconsistencies during the trial, and I ask you to find my client not guilty."
Rangel, 35, was indicted by a grand jury in November in two separate cases. In one case, he faces three first-degree felony counts of rape and four fourth-degree felony counts of gross sexual imposition. In the remaining case, Rangle is charged with single counts of endangering children, disrupting public service and domestic violence.
Spanish-speaking attorneys approved by the Ohio Supreme Court assisted during the case to ensure there was no language barrier between participants. Testimony will resume on Tuesday.
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