Crime

Man charged with sexual assault of woman at Bellefonte-area motel

State police at Rockview charged a 50-year-old man with felony sexual assault after a woman said she was assaulted at a Bellefonte-area hotel.
State police at Rockview charged a 50-year-old man with felony sexual assault after a woman said she was assaulted at a Bellefonte-area hotel. Centre Daily Times, file

A man was arraigned Friday on a felony sexual assault charge after a woman told investigators he assaulted her while she slept in a motel room her employer provided along Benner Pike.

Jose S. Lainez, 50, is accused of sexually assaulting his colleague last week at the Econo Lodge near Bellefonte. The woman said she did not consent and shoved him away during the assault, state police at Rockview wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

She and Lainez are colleagues who were in the area for business, police wrote. The woman said the company she worked for placed her in the room with Lainez and another man.

No defense lawyer was listed.

An emergency request to obtain real-time location data from a cellular service provider showed Lainez was traveling in the Pittsburgh area, police wrote. Both the woman and her supervisor told troopers they believed he fled in that direction.

When police arrived Wednesday at the hotel room, a trooper said it appeared one of the three beds described by the woman was recently removed. According to the affidavit, police believe it was likely removed by Lainez.

He was arraigned Friday by District Judge Casey McClain, who denied bail. He found Lainez, a native of El Salvador, to be a flight risk and a danger to the community.

He is incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Bret Pallotto
Centre Daily Times
Bret Pallotto primarily reports on courts and crime for the Centre Daily Times. He was raised in Mifflin County and graduated from Lock Haven University.
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