Beaverton man, 24, convicted of two rapes
Verdict - Eric Aguilar Morales faces prison, then deportation in the attacks on two teens
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
HOLLY DANKS
The Oregonian
HILLSBORO -- A jury found a 24-year-old Beaverton man guilty Tuesday of raping a 13-year-old girl in her bed and a 15-year-old girl he picked up at a Tigard transit center.

Eric Aguilar Morales faces more than 27 years in prison and will be deported to Mexico as an illegal immigrant after serving his time.

A jury of eight women and four men took about two hours to find Aguilar guilty of all 12 charges against him: rape, sexual abuse, burglary, delivery of a controlled substance to a minor and possession of a fake Social Security card.

Aguilar, who did not testify, reacted to the verdict with a smile

Washington County Circuit Judge Suzanne M. Upton will sentence him on April 5.

According to testimony, Aguilar broke into a ground-level apartment across the parking lot from his at the Willow Grove apartments in the 11900 block of Southwest Center Street in Beaverton about 5 a.m. Sept. 22.

After popping open a window, Aguilar went into the 13-year-old girl's bedroom and threatened her with a knife. He also said he would shoot the girl's mother if she didn't do what he said.

"I scooted away from him as far as I could," the girl said. "He said lay down, and I kept pushing him away, and he was pulling my hair."

Some jurors flinched when the sixth-grader estimated the rape lasted about an hour.

Police had no suspects until Nov. 10, when a 15-year-old girl ran to a Beaverton 7-Eleven and hysterically told bystanders a man had raped her in his nearby apartment. At the time, Aguilar was living in the Stone Creek apartments on Southwest Murray Boulevard near Farmington Road.

The Oregonian is not identifying the girls because of their ages and nature of the crimes.

In court last week, the two girls identified Aguilar as their attacker.

So did DNA evidence. Forensic experts placed the odds at one in 10 billion that DNA from semen found during an examination of the 15-year-old and on the 13-year-old's pajama top was not from Aguilar.

"This is a very strong case," Senior Deputy District Attorney Jeff Lesowski said during his closing argument Tuesday.

Jean Martwick, Aguilar's public defender, did not call witnesses or offer evidence during the four-day trial.

However, in both her opening and closing statements, Martwick urged jurors to consider the cases separately. She argued that the 15-year-old girl went with Aguilar from the Washington Square Transit Center because he offered her drugs and that a used condom found near his bed proved they had consensual sex.

The 15-year-old testified that despite being high on methamphetamine Aguilar gave her, she repeatedly told him to stop touching her and to take her home.

Martwick called the girl, who is in treatment for a meth addiction, an "out-of-control teenager" who could have gotten away.

Lesowski said such an argument reminded him of "the bad old days" when women were told they deserved to be raped because of how they dressed.

"Well, God help all the other drug-affected youth out there," Lesowski said. "They are open prey because they cannot be raped. Or if they are, it cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

As jurors left the courtroom, one walked over to the 15-year-old victim. "God bless you," he said.

Holly Danks: 503-221-4377; hollydanks@news.oregonian.com



©2006 The Oregonian

NOW THIS TYPE OF STORY HAS BEEN AN ALMOST DAILY TYPE OF OCCURANCE HERE, AND IT MUST BE EQUAL IF NOT WORSE IN OTHER CITIES.

I HAVE A 12 YEAR OLD NIECE, AND ALTHOUGH THIS AGE GROUP WOULD LIKE YOU TO THINK THEY ARE SO MATURE, THEY ARE NOTHING BUT LITTLE GIRLS IN BIGGER BODIES (MY NIECE STILL LOOKS THROUGH THE BARBIE AILSES IN THE TOY STORES, ALTHOUGH SHE WOULD NOT WANT HER FRIENDS TO KNOW!).

SO IMAGINE THAT, A LITTLE GIRL BEING RAPED IN SUCH A WAY. SICK!!