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Deaf woman tells of rape (phillyBurbs.com) | Intelligencer
He told her his name was “Mike.” He seemed nice, the Quakertown woman told the jury, and they chatted back and forth at the Eagle Hotel bar, communicating via notes they scrawled on a cocktail napkin.
But once they got to her house, his mood changed.
“His face was horrible. Really creepy looking,” she said. “He was nice, but then he became really angry.”
The woman, who is deaf, testified Wednesday at Dwayne Rieco’s trial in Bucks County Court in Doylestown. Rieco, 37, is accused of raping the woman at her home on July 11.
Rieco denies the charges. He said the 51-year-old woman willingly had sex with him.
The woman, whose name is being withheld, testified with the help of two sign-language interpreters who worked in tandem, one facing the victim and one facing the lawyers who were asking the victim questions.
She described how she went to the Eagle Hotel after a night out with friends, and soon struck up a conversation with Rieco.
Near closing time she accepted Rieco’s offer to drive her home, she said, because she felt too “buzzed” to operate a vehicle.
The woman admitted she invited Rieco in to meet her three dogs, and was surprised when he closed her front door behind him. As tears welled up in her eyes, she talked about what she said happened next.
“He just pushed me and pinned me down on the floor,” she said. “I was screaming, and he put his arm across my throat, then his hand over my mouth. I read his lips…he wanted me to shut up.”
The woman said that Rieco then ripped off her pants. She said she fought and crawled backward, getting her elbows scraped on the carpet as Rieco pushed her.
When her head became wedged under a television stand she realized she was trapped, she said, and stopped struggling.
“He was so rough with me and I was so tired. I just gave up,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was suffocating.”
When Rieco got off her, the woman told the jury, she crawled over to a wall that abuts her neighbor’s house and began pounding on it and screaming for help.
The neighbor came to the door and Rieco opened it halfway to talk to her. The woman said she used his distraction as an opportunity to escape and charged out the door, naked from the waist down.
“I didn’t care at that point. I just wanted to save my own life,” she said.
The neighbor’s boyfriend called 911 and the deaf woman was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Police captured Rieco walking near the victim’s home a short time later. He told police that the sex was consensual and that he wanted to “clear his name.”
Rieco is charged with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault and reckless endangerment. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
The trial continues today before county Judge Albert Cepparulo.
Before finishing her testimony, the victim said she regretted inviting Rieco into her home.
“I thought he seemed nice, but I made a mistake,” she said.
He told her his name was “Mike.” He seemed nice, the Quakertown woman told the jury, and they chatted back and forth at the Eagle Hotel bar, communicating via notes they scrawled on a cocktail napkin.
But once they got to her house, his mood changed.
“His face was horrible. Really creepy looking,” she said. “He was nice, but then he became really angry.”
The woman, who is deaf, testified Wednesday at Dwayne Rieco’s trial in Bucks County Court in Doylestown. Rieco, 37, is accused of raping the woman at her home on July 11.
Rieco denies the charges. He said the 51-year-old woman willingly had sex with him.
The woman, whose name is being withheld, testified with the help of two sign-language interpreters who worked in tandem, one facing the victim and one facing the lawyers who were asking the victim questions.
She described how she went to the Eagle Hotel after a night out with friends, and soon struck up a conversation with Rieco.
Near closing time she accepted Rieco’s offer to drive her home, she said, because she felt too “buzzed” to operate a vehicle.
The woman admitted she invited Rieco in to meet her three dogs, and was surprised when he closed her front door behind him. As tears welled up in her eyes, she talked about what she said happened next.
“He just pushed me and pinned me down on the floor,” she said. “I was screaming, and he put his arm across my throat, then his hand over my mouth. I read his lips…he wanted me to shut up.”
The woman said that Rieco then ripped off her pants. She said she fought and crawled backward, getting her elbows scraped on the carpet as Rieco pushed her.
When her head became wedged under a television stand she realized she was trapped, she said, and stopped struggling.
“He was so rough with me and I was so tired. I just gave up,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was suffocating.”
When Rieco got off her, the woman told the jury, she crawled over to a wall that abuts her neighbor’s house and began pounding on it and screaming for help.
The neighbor came to the door and Rieco opened it halfway to talk to her. The woman said she used his distraction as an opportunity to escape and charged out the door, naked from the waist down.
“I didn’t care at that point. I just wanted to save my own life,” she said.
The neighbor’s boyfriend called 911 and the deaf woman was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Police captured Rieco walking near the victim’s home a short time later. He told police that the sex was consensual and that he wanted to “clear his name.”
Rieco is charged with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault and reckless endangerment. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
The trial continues today before county Judge Albert Cepparulo.
Before finishing her testimony, the victim said she regretted inviting Rieco into her home.
“I thought he seemed nice, but I made a mistake,” she said.