College student gets year in jail for admitting to 2 rapes
11/09/2016 3:29 pm PST
Utah State University students bravely faced cameras, revealing horrifying details about what they suffered at the hands of Sigma Chi fraternity member Jason Relopez.
"I asked him to stop and he never did," said survivor Morgan Klinkowski.
Relopez sexually assaulted Klinkowski at a Utah State University fraternity party. He also raped Victoria Hewlett while doing homework at her apartment.
Following the attack, a traumatized Klinkowski actually cleaned up the evidence.
"I was scared of him," said Klinkowski.
But there was no way she could scrub away the memory of that terrifying night: Visions that she says haunted her so much it took her 10 months to report the rape to the police.
One of the women said she was slapped, choked and raped multiple times. Another woman says she told him no three times. She says Relopez raped her anyway.
"This is an extremely serious situation," said Utah State University spokesman Tim Vitale.
So who is Jason Relopez? On his "Hot or Not" webpage, he poses bare-chested, brandishing a weapon, and says he likes "adventurous women who like to have a good time." On his LinkedIn page, Relopez changes his image, portraying a wholesome guy, looking preppy in khakis and a button-down shirt. He says he was an air-traffic controller and is studying finance.
But now his high-flying career has come to a grinding halt. Relopez was in court in February, shackled, wearing a pink jailhouse jumpsuit. Crime Watch Daily Salt Lake City affiliate KSTU reports that Relopez stuck a plea deal: One year in jail and admitting he raped the women.
His victims are upset that he didn't get a harsher sentence.
Judge Brian Cannell is also angry about the outcome of the case, and said in court: "If it wasn't for the previously arranged plea agreement," he would have sent Relopez to prison. He calls Relopez's actions "repugnant" and "horrible."
"This is a very private trauma that they have suffered, and so it's very difficult for them to come forward," said prosecutor Barbara Lachmar. "I was so proud of them, they showed great courage."
But the women say not only was it tough facing Relopez in court, they felt they were victimized for a second time by the defense attorney's brutal pretrial statement.
"Regret the next day of doing something stupid when you're drunk doesn't make rape, and it doesn't make aggravated sexual assault," said Relopez's defense attorney, Shannon Demler.
Victoria Hewlett isn't done seeking justice. She's slapping Utah State University and the Sigma Chi Fraternity with a lawsuit claiming they knew all about Relopez's history, but did nothing to stop him.
Court documents say, before Hewlett was attacked, five other women had reported to the university that they had been sexually assaulted by Relopez.
"It shouldn't take six of these events. They should be investigated the right way from the first one, not the sixth one," said Jeffrey Eisenberg, Victoria Hewlett's attorney.
Hewlett never returned to Utah State, and is now taking classes at Utah Valley University.
The girls say with the trial behind them, they are looking forward to moving past this dark chapter in their lives.