For the week of September 17 - 23, 2003

Two rapes reported
this week

Prior Hailey rape investigation ongoing

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

In separate cases this week, two Wood River Valley women reported to law enforcement agencies that men they knew raped them.

Meanwhile, the Hailey Police Department is continuing to investigate an alleged gang rape that was reported on Aug. 25.

At about 1 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 15, Hailey police received a telephone call from a 20-year-old Woodside resident who said a man she identified as Carlos Nunez-Regalado, 21, of Bellevue, had entered her home while she was sleeping and sexually assaulted her.

Hailey Police Chief Brian McNary said police found Nunez-Regalado in the custody of the Twin Falls County Jail, where he was held for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

Nunez-Regalado was taken into the custody of Hailey police officers and transported back to Blaine County, where he was booked into the Blaine County Jail in lieu of a $75,000 bond. He faces rape and burglary charges, McNary said.

McNary said the victim reported to police that she had been sleeping in her living room when, sometime between midnight and 1 a.m., Nunez-Regalado entered her home uninvited, restrained her and sexually assaulted her.

McNary said the woman sustained bruises to her neck and face and was taken to St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center for an examination. He also said the woman told officers that her assailant had been very intoxicated.

Separately, a 16-year-old girl was admitted to the emergency room at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center on Saturday, Sept. 13 for injuries she said she received when she was sexually assaulted the night before, said Blaine County Chief Deputy Sheriff Gene Ramsey.

At about 10:45 p.m., hospital personnel called the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office to report that the girl had been raped sometime the night before, Ramsey said.

Ramsey said preliminary medical evidence confirmed that the girl had sexual intercourse. He said evidence was sent to the state crime lab, which will return a report to the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney. The attorney will determine what charges will be filed, Ramsey said.

In the reported gang rape of a Hailey woman on Aug. 25, Hailey police have identified, but not charged, three suspects.

Police conducted several police lineups, and arrests are pending the results of the ongoing investigation.

The woman told police in August that she was abducted on River Street in Hailey and raped by three men in the bed of a pickup truck near the old Ironwood Racquet Club in Woodside.

The woman told police she was driven by her assailants to an area adjacent to the city limits near the old Ironwood, McNary said. The woman told police she was driven in a late model green or black pickup truck with a rack and tool box in the bed.

On Tuesday, the day after the rape was reported, a local man purchased a pickup truck matching the description and was afraid to register the vehicle when he heard radio reports of the incident, McNary said.

The man’s employer called the Hailey Police Department, and the truck checked out as the correct vehicle, McNary said. The man who sold the truck was identified, and samples were taken from the vehicle for lab tests.

The rape was reported to Hailey police at approximately 4 a.m. on Aug. 25. The victim, who had been dropped off near the post office in Hailey at around 3:30 a.m., was taken to St. Luke’s Wood River Regional Medical Center for treatment, and was released.

Though rape is not frequently in the public eye in the Wood River Valley, it is more common here than some may think, according to Brooke Bonner, client services manager for The Advocates, a local nonprofit that works with domestic violence and sexual assault victims.

"During the last fiscal year, The Advocates served almost 40 women and children who were victims of rape and sexual assault," she said.

That jives with national statistics indicating that many sexual assaults go unreported to law enforcement agencies.

According to The Sex Offender, a book by Bart Devlin, approximately 25 cases of sexual exploitation go unreported for every one case that is recorded with police.

"The Advocates strongly believe that society should be a safe place for women in which we enjoy the same freedoms and safety as men, where we shouldn’t have to be afraid to walk home alone or go running after dark," Bonner said.

But rape reports could be on the upswing in the Wood River Valley.

"Rape, typically, is a crime that goes under-reported," Ramsey said, adding that, "It seems like we’re getting more reported."

Ramsey said that could be because awareness is up, and victims may believe that if they don’t speak up, others could become victims as well.

Bonner said one of the best things women can do to avoid being sexually assaulted is to trust their instincts. In addition, men and women need to watch out for one another.

"Speak up when you hear or see something inappropriate and let people know we want to build the kind of community in which violent behavior is unacceptable," Bonner said.

 

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