Jury returns split verdict in East Chicago rape trial
A jury came back with a split verdict Wednesday night in an East Chicago rape trial – acquitting a New Jersey man of rape, but convicting him of his lower charge, sexual battery.
At maximum, Pedro Castaneda Contreras, 49, of Brick, New Jersey, faces up to 2.5 years in prison.
Jurors deliberated for over seven hours.
The victim told Deputy Prosecutor Shannon Phillips Tuesday that initially she wanted a physical relationship, but quickly changed her mind and felt 'scared' or unable to get out of it.
'Once it actually happened, that's when I didn't want it anymore,' she said.
Castaneda denied the charges. His defense lawyer, Michael Lambert, told jurors he believed the accusations were false.
The victim admitted she couldn't provide a specific month and year for when each incident happened. East Chicago Police estimated it was between April 2017 and May 2018.
She testified that she told her brother in June 2021, who told her parents. They called the cops to file a police report.
According to court filings, the victim said she was 16 when Castaneda's texts 'became sexual.' She told cops he forced her to perform a sex act in a bathroom, then months later tried to have sex with her, according to the affidavit.
In later incidents, he either performed a sex act on her or forced her to perform a sex act, charges state.
The woman told him in 2021 that she had a boyfriend and tried to cut off contact.
She took a screenshot of his Snapchat reply. It didn't matter if she had a boyfriend or if he was married, he wrote.
'You started it all,' he responded in one part.
mcolias@post-trib.com
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