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WINTER PARK- The trial of two illegal immigrants charged with kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old student from Walker Middle School came to a close Friday.
Both Richard Morales-Marin, 24, and Juan Hernandez-Monzalvo, 25, were convicted of kidnapping with sexual battery along with other charges in an Orange County courthouse by a jury.
The men face up to life in prison at the Jan. 7 hearing but both will serve at least 25 years in prison.
The victim was not present during the reading of the verdict by the jury.
The victim testified on Thursday that as she was on her way to school at about 6:30 a.m., Marin forced her at knifepoint into the backseat of a dark purple sedan and sexually assaulted her. Then Monzalvo drove the car to a vacant house where both men raped her before dropping her back off on the street, she said.
Attorney Linda Drane-Burdick called several witnesses before the jury on Thursday to prove the case before Judge Walter Komanski.
Responding deputy Angela Batista of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the girl identified one attacker as 5’8”, with a mustache, Mexican and wearing a red jacket and green sweatpants. She said both men threatened to hurt her further if she told anyone about the assault.
During opening statements, the defense for Marin and Monzalvo urged the jury to remember their duty to listen to all of the evidence presented and that the two men were innocent until proven guilty.
Marin, who according to an arrest report by Officer Jason McMullen, confessed to kidnapping and sexually battering the girl and he implicated Monzalvo as the driver. Marin was identified in a photo lineup as the man who forced the girl into the car according to the State. Monzalvo also confessed after his arrest.
During a grid search of the area surrounding Orange Blossom Trail and Lancaster Boulevard was conducted an officer found a house matching the description the girl provided at 2506 Rose Blvd.
Alina Burroughs, a crime scene investigator, testified to finding a pair of black gloves and a jacket zipper pull belonging to the girl found at 2506 Rose Blvd. The prosecution introduced photos taken by Burroughs on Feb. 5 of blood stains on the tile of one of the bedrooms and of a red hose used to identify the location by the girl.
After the girl testified, Alejandrina Alvarado, her mother, took the stand, swearing on oath that she never gave either Marin or Monzalvo permission to take her daughter.
Dr. Mark Kessler, medical director for the Child Protection Team of Orange and Osceola counties, testified that he conducted a “rape kit” on the girl four to five hours after the alleged incident. Kessler found a laceration, several bruises and swelling on the girl’s body indicative of an assault.
Police were notified by Carlos Laboy, a car mechanic, who recognized a sketch of Marin and a photo of the house on Rose Boulevard shown on the news days after the alleged assault. Laboy eventually led an officer to the suspects.