Man faces deportation after sex-assault guilty plea
By John Nickerson, Staff Writer
Published: 08:08 p.m., Sunday, January 10, 2010


STAMFORD -- A homeless illegal immigrant charged with raping a woman inside Woodland Cemetery in October 2008 pleaded guilty to reduced charges last week and will be deported.

Wilson Jiminez, 21, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual assault and second-degree assault and was sentenced to 18 months in jail and 10 years probation.

His plea before Judge Richard Comerford at state Superior Court in Stamford came after three other attempts at guilty pleas over the past two months that broke down either because Jiminez did not understand what he was pleading guilty to or disagreed with the state's case against him.

Jiminez, who was assisted by an interpreter at his hearings, pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine Wednesday because he disputed all or some of the state's facts of the case but conceded there was probably enough evidence for a conviction.

Following his arrest on Oct. 18, 2008, Jiminez was charged with first-degree sexual assault, second-degree assault and first-degree strangulation. Since then and through his conviction last week, he has been jailed in lieu of $250,000 bond.

Jiminez's public defender, Howard Ehring, said that because his client, a landscaper, is an undocumented alien from Guatemala, he will be probably be deported within the next two weeks.

Ehring said he was pleased that he was able to manage pleas to lesser charges.

"It was certainly a fair resolution in light of the reduced charges that he pled to and he will be deported," Ehring said.

Police were called to the edge of Woodlawn Cemetery on Stone Street in the South End at about 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2008, after a resident heard a woman cry for help in the cemetery.

They found a hysterical woman with cuts and bruises on her face saying she had been raped and attacked by a man called "Wilton."

The woman said a man asked her if she wanted to drink some beer with him. She said yes, and they went into the cemetery to keep away from police.

The woman said Jiminez tried to kiss and hug her, but she pushed him away and he became furious.

She said he then dragged her further into the cemetery and began punching, kicking and choking her and then raping her. She said was able to escape after stabbing him with a piece of glass.

At a plea hearing just before Christmas, Senior Assistant State's Attorney Paul Ferencek said the woman admitted that she had negotiated to perform a sex act on Jiminez, but planned to rob him of $20 and not go through with it. When she reneged on the deal, Jiminez forced her to have sex, she said. The woman fought back and hit him with a glass crack pipe.

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