(Woodland, CA) February 26, 2018 – District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on Tuesday, February 20, the Honorable David Rosenberg found 34-year-old Woodland man Rene Nicolas Munoz guilty of 17 Counts of Rape of a Minor, 21 Counts of Child Molestation, 38 Counts of Statutory Rape, Possession of Child Pornography, Sodomy and Forcible Sexual Penetration in a court trial.
The victim testified that her family and the Mr. Munoz’ family were family friends since she was 11 or 12 years old. Mr. Munoz’ significant other had a son the same age as the victim. Mr. Munoz also had two children of his own. When the victim started her freshman year at age 14 at high school in Woodland, she and Mr. Munoz, who was 29, began having sex at different locations around Woodland starting around Thanksgiving 2012. They would often text and call each other multiple times per day. Mr. Munoz would film them having sex as well as himself naked and they would share the videos with each other. The relationship continued throughout the victim’s entire freshman and sophomore years. Mr. Munoz had on occasion, asked the victim to have her teenage friends engage in sex with them as well in return for money.
Starting in her junior year of high school, the victim no longer wanted to be with Mr. Munoz but instead wanted to date boys her own age. Mr. Munoz would not allow her to be in any other relationships and often sent her text messages that would threaten the life of boys he believed her to be with. Mr. Munoz convinced the victim he was a violent gang member and had killed people in the past. The victim stayed with Mr. Munoz out of fear that he would hurt her or others she was with.
In February of her senior year, the victim received information that Mr. Munoz was on his way to her house with garbage bags to dispose of her body and she called 911. Woodland Police Department responded to find Mr. Munoz outside of her home. Mr. Munoz was able to convince the police that he was not a threat and he was released. Detectives at Woodland Police Department spent hours investigating the forensic evidence from the three year relationship which showed the threatening nature of the relationship that had prevented the victim from reporting Mr. Munoz’s crimes. Police found information during the investigation that was consistent with the victim’s version of events and nature of the relationship.
Mr. Munoz testified in his own defense, pointing to his community ties including his years of coaching for the Cal Ripken Youth Baseball Organization in Woodland, his longstanding relationship with his girlfriend and as his role as a father. He admitted to being in the unlawful relationship with the victim but blamed the victim for trapping him in the relationship.
When rendering his verdict, the Judge Rosenberg stated that he found the victim credible, honest and forthright and that Mr. Munoz was less than credible. Judge Rosenberg noted that the victim trusted the Defendant and that in the eyes of the law, she is a child. Mr. Munoz is facing over 100 years in state prison and will have to register as a sex offender. He will be sentenced on April 20, 2018.
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