Woman testifies in E.C. rape trial; Snapchat screenshots admitted as evidence
A woman testified Tuesday that she told Pedro Castaneda Contreras about her boyfriend as an excuse to tell him to stop contacting her after a trail of alleged sexual abuse.
She took a screenshot of his Snapchat reply. It didn't matter if she had a boyfriend or he was married, he wrote.
'You started it all,' he responded in one part.
Castaneda, 49, of Brick, New Jersey, is on trial this week. He was charged in July 2021 with rape and sexual battery. He has pleaded not guilty.
Defense lawyer Michael Lambert objected to the Snapchat snippet – a social media website where messages disappear shortly after they are sent – and other Instagram messages she showed East Chicago police. He argued it was hearsay and there was no corroboration from either social media company.
Judge Samuel Cappas overruled his objection.
On the stand, the woman at times tearfully recounted a handful of incidents to Deputy Prosecutor Shannon Phillips.
She told Phillips 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.
She admitted she couldn't provide a specific month and year for when each incident happened. Police estimated it was between April 2017 and May 2018.
The woman testified 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.
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