BOSTON (WHDH) - Opening statements were held in Boston Monday for a long-delayed trial against a man accused of kidnapping and raping a woman.
Victor Peña is facing ten counts of aggravated rape and one count of kidnapping as he stands trial for what allegedly unfolded in 2019.
The 42-year-old was originally arrested after police said they found a woman who had not been seen in three days inside his Charlestown apartment.
Prosecutors alleged she was taken by him from outside of Hennessy’s Bar near Faneuil Hall, while the woman had been on a night out with her twin sister and friends. Peña allegedly took the woman to his home where he then terrorized her.
During opening statements, the prosecutor discussed what the woman remembered.
“Waking up naked on a bare mattress, no sheet in a small room that was not only messy, but filthy, naked,” said Ian Polumbaum of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. “Looked around for her clothes, as she started moving, a man’s arm came across her body and stopped her.”
Peña’s lawyer spoke at length about his client’s mental health and said any sexual activity between the two was consensual. He denied Peña held the woman against her will.
“There won’t be evidence of a gun, a knife, or any bat or weapon,” Defense Attorney Lorenzo Perez said.
The first witness called on Monday was the woman’s twin. She described her sister as tipsy, but still in control.
She told the jury she became concerned after getting separated from her sister, and later traced her phone to an unknown apartment using an app. The defense had no questions for the woman’s sibling.
Monday’s trial took place after disruptions filled the jury selection process, including one incident where Peña was removed from the courtroom for “continual verbal outbursts,” according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office.
In another situation, the accused appeared in court via Zoom call and appeared naked, making rude gestures. Potential jurors had to be led out of the courtroom and later dismissed by the judge before a new pool was brought in.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)