MARATHON — A 53-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting a 33-year-old woman on Wednesday after holding her against her will for 13 hours in a trailer, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Julio Melendez of Marathon was charged with first-degree felony sexual assault, which is punishable by a maximum of 30 years in state prison upon conviction.
The woman told detectives she was sitting in front of Kmart at 2 p.m. on Wednesday when Melendez pulled up in his gold-colored GMC pickup. She said she decided to go for a ride with him, reports say.
She told detectives they bought cigarettes and alcohol and went back to his travel trailer, where they had consensual sex.
During their encounter, she became unwilling to continue having sex with him and told him to stop, reports say. He failed to stop and continued the activity against her will while holding her there against her will for approximately 13 hours, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
They finally left the travel trailer in his truck and drove to the shopping center parking lot at 55th Street, reports say. In the parking lot, he sideswiped a man’s vehicle, reports say.
That man told detectives he saw the victim inside the truck yelling for help. The witness intervened and told the victim to get into his vehicle. Melendez then sped off in his truck and the witness told the bartender in the Brass Monkey lounge what happened, reports say.
Sgt. Joel Slough recognized the description of the suspect and his vehicle from previous law enforcement encounters. The victim identified the suspect in a photo lineup and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Melendez was arrested Thursday and was booked into jail where he remained in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
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