9:03 AM March 9, 2007


Man guilty in Noblesville rape

By James A. Gillaspy
james.gillaspy@indystar.com

The trial of an illegal immigrant accused of raping a 14-year-old Noblesville girl ended Thursday with a guilty verdict.


Jurors deliberating in Hamilton County Superior Court 3 found Miguel Gutierrez guilty of both counts of rape he faced.
Gutierrez, 20, had been identified by the victim as one of at least three people who forced themselves on the girl last year.
Still facing trial is Eleazar Renteria, a 16-year-old boy accused of holding the girl down while Gutierrez and another man raped her at a gathering in the area of 166th Street and Union Chapel Road.
Renteria, who also is charged with rape, is being tried as an adult in the case.
Hamilton County Deputy Prosecutor Stephanie Smith said other possible suspects had not been located.
An investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department had determined the girl was raped after she and a friend went to a neighbor's house on July 13, 2006.
The sexual assaults occurred after she was given alcoholic beverages and thrown to the ground, she told investigators.
A sentencing hearing for Gutierrez was set for April 12 at 2 p.m.


Call Star reporter James A. Gillaspy at (317) 444-2608.


http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...0104/703090526