An undocumented immigrant is accused of raping a 13-year-old non-verbal girl at her home, but the suspect’s defense attorney claims police arrested the wrong man.
Reynaldo Mora, 41, of Bethesda, is currently charged with sex abuse of a minor, plus two counts of second-degree rape.
In February, the victim’s family asked Mora to babysit the special needs girl, and her two siblings, at their Kensington home. During that visit, Mora allegedly forced the victim to have sexual intercourse with him in a bedroom.
Police note the victim is only able to communicate with “gestures and writing” and has the “intellect of a first grader.”
In mid-April, the victim took an in-home pregnancy test, which came back positive. Her aunt brought her to Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville for further testing. Medical staff confirmed she was 11-weeks pregnant at that time. The victim would later tell investigators that Mora was the father of the unborn child.
Authorities arrested Mora on April 19. A Montgomery County District Court Judge denied his bond. Mora consequently spent the next seven weeks at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg.
But in late May, Mora’s defense attorney, Jose Campos, filed a “motion to reconsider bond.” The document listed 14 arguments as to why a judge should allow the 41-year-old’s release from jail while he awaits trial. Campos underscored that his client has no prior criminal record, is willing to surrender his passport and needs to provide $1,000 a month in child support.
“Being detained will not allow him to work and provide for his family and will hinder him to present a proper defense,” Campos wrote in the two-page legal filing. “Counsel is willing to safely keep Mr. Mora’s passport under a locked cabinet in Counsel’s office until the court no longer has this requirement.”
Campos also noted Mora’s boss is willing to house the accused child rapist at an apartment in Rockville. That boss has a three-year-old child of his own, Campos stated.
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SOURCE: ABC7 WJLA, Kevin Lewis
