Man pleads guilty to rape of girl, 10
Jose Abel Zelaya-Ascencio
A 32-year-old man pleaded guilty in Prince William Circuit Court on Monday to raping a 10-year-old girl.
Jose Abel Zelaya-Ascencio, of no fixed address, was charged with raping the girl at her family’s home in the 7500 block of Alleghany Court on Oct. 22, 2007.
According to court testimony Monday, the girl was awakened at 5:35 a.m. that morning when Zelaya-Ascencio broke into the house and went into her bedroom.
The girl, who was home alone with her 7-year-old brother, said she tried to get away, but Zelaya-Ascencio overpowered her and raped her, police said.
The girl told police that her attacker wore a bandanna over his face, but she suspected it was Zelaya-Ascencio, who had rented a room at her house prior to the incident.
Zelaya-Ascencio denied being at the house that morning and being involved in the rape, but DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene, police said at the time.
Prosecutors are recommending that Zelaya-Ascencio be sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, and 10 years of probation.
His sentencing hearing is set for March 6.
Zelaya-Ascencio is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador and could face deportation, officials said.
Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.
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Reader Reactions
(North Side) said,it just seems many more cases where the Rapist is hispanic. Wow, can you be more ofensive??, can you find a head count of Hispanics and then subtract the bad ones and tell me the percentage and then we do the same with other races, you need to start checking the Sex offenders list on a national level, let me show you some light, may be those are the cases that grab more attention and makes it into the news.
Does anyone here have proof that this creep’s confession was forced? There is DNA evidence linking him to the crime. But, if he feels that he is one of those extremely rare cases of mistaken identity, even scum like him is allowed his day in court.
Blue doggette I agree with you to a point. ALL rapists should be “sliced and diced” as you put it so well! In these cases I think there is outrage regardless of the ethnicity of the accused. It just seems that there are many more cases where the rapist is Hispanic, and the victim is a child.
JUST TO ADDRESS THE CONFESSION:
John Trainum, a 25 year detective, is now recommending that interrogations be videotaped because of how they are extracting confessions.
On 1/24/08, in the LA TIMES, he wrote, “I’ve been a police officer for 25 years, and I never understood why someone would admit to a crime he or she didn’t commit. Until I secured a false confession in a murder case.“
Nebraska just had a case where confessions were extracted and six people had to be released because DNA testing identified another (who died in prison). The greatest witness tampering is done by investigators.
Pontificating? I am not the Pope, but if you doubt the truth of what I have posted, feel free to so some research - as I did.
These cases where DNA testing is used with cold hits are extremely serious. But, then, so is advocating murder and mayhem against immigrants.
Recently, a DA tried to use only five loci to convict a defendent. There is a reason why most labs test for 16 loci and the FBI database includes 13. I am actually surprised the jury in that case got it. In Maryland, their database had 13 of 13 paired matches of loci between individuals. Arizona has some documented matches as well.
The majority of these cases are not beause they are immigrants or African Americans. They are because the defendents are poor.
We are all poor when it comes to a fight with a DA having millions of dollars behind them to call “expert witnesses.“
I am just a retired correctional officer who has had a great deal of DNA testing for genealogical purposes. When you pay for it yourself, you learn what it is all about.
I have had my full mitochondrial genome sequenced. For forensic purposes, they only partial tests of less than a tenth of what I had tested.
I have had more than 85 markers tested of my Y chromosome DNA in an attempt to determine my orphan father’s surname. I think it is a good tool for investigation, but not identification.
I have had six autosomal tests, many of which are on the cutting edge of forensics and have ordered 15 more that include the FBI loci. Some studies document ethnic origin for these.
Since I have started studying this, I have read many peer reviewed articles, some caselaw, and even a few lectures on the use of DNA in courts.
Not all DNA testing is created alike and certainly what they are attempting to use as evidence is far from beyond a reasonable doubt. As a juror, if it is beyond a reasonable doubt, you should be willing to risk imprisonment for being wrong.
The power of DNA testing is in investigation and exclusion - not identification. The lab reports I have read say that, but DAs ignore that part.
For a long time, I worked with a hearings officer in a prison. He was a genius and had to face court decisions based on his work. He was far more careful because he had to answer for his use of testimony and evidence.
Unlike a judge he could be and was sued. The results of his work postponed inmates’ releases for more than a year sometimes and put them in segregation for six months. DAs and judges are almost never sued and rarely sanctioned, no matter how outrageous their procedures are.
JohnLloydScharf do you have some specific information on this case or are you just pontificating?
How about there are too many rapists in this area? Why is it necessary to only be outraged over the hispanic ones? I would like to do some slice and dice on all of them, regardless of ethnicity.
My ancestors were illegal non-citizens. They say they were Cherokees. We did not have laws regarding immigrants other than entrance fees until after my father was born. He was an adopted orphan, so we do not know what his original surname was. He could have been a Russian or Polish Jew.
Didnt this just happen a week or so ago when some immigrant was accused of raping a 4 year old?! When is PWC going to step up and stop these criminals from harming our children. I could go up to 4 7-11s right now and show the cops where they are.
Those that support the presence of illegal immigrants in our county have always said that illegal immigrants only want to come here to work. As we have seen with the multiple incidents of crimes against children here in Prince William County and the murders of elderly residents in Montgomery County, I guess the illegal immigrant apologists have some explaining to do.
John Trainum, a 25 year detective, is now recommending that interrogations be videotaped because of how they are extracting confessions.
On 1/24/08, in the LA TIMES, he wrote, “I’ve been a police officer for 25 years, and I never understood why someone would admit to a crime he or she didn’t commit. Until I secured a false confession in a murder case.“
If it can extract a confession, why not a bit of false testimony?
So, a if a confession in a case is NOT a sign that it is a done dea why would it be such from a jailhouse informant?
It goes back to the DNA testing. DNA testing is not magic, but it is being treated as such. The only power of DNA testing that is absolute is in EXCLUDING suspects.
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