Victor Peña Convicted Of Kidnapping, Raping Boston Woman

BOSTON — Victor Peña has been found guilty of kidnapping a woman in Boston, holding her captive in his Charlestown apartment, and raping her for three days in January 2019.

A jury in Suffolk Superior Court convicted Peña of all ten charges of aggravated rape and one count of kidnapping after deliberating Tuesday afternoon. Peña was not in court when the jurors returned their verdict - he instead listened in through Zoom.

A judge ordered him held without bail, and he is due back in court for a sentencing hearing on Monday, Aug. 1.

Closing arguments were read Tuesday morning after Peña surprised the court by deciding to testify in his own defense about the allegations Monday, claiming anything that happened in the three days the victim was held in his apartment was "consensual."

Peña, who is Spanish speaking, testified through a translator telling the jury "not to buy the story from the victim," and that she wanted to go to his home - adding that they "had nice chemistry."

During the victim's testimony last week, she said Peña would make her read the bible in Spanish while he held her captive and sexually assaulted her. She told the jury she wanted to leave, and he wouldn't let her.

The accuser told the court that Peña sexually assaulted her multiple times and threatened her if she tried to leave. "I didn't want to die," she said.

Peña told the jury the victim had asked for his help and that she'd been drinking on the night of their encounter in January. During her testimony, she told police she didn't remember even meeting him, just waking up in his apartment. Peña argued that the victim pretended to be more intoxicated than she actually was, adding that he was still just trying to help her the whole time. "I kissed her, told her I loved her, and lifted her up like an angel."

When police detectives found and entered the Charlestown apartment, they wrote that they found a terrified woman who had been shaking and crying.

Before Peña took the stand, he watched the proceedings remotely through a monitor after he suddenly appeared naked on a monitor in the courtroom and performed a lewd act earlier this month.

Peña was found competent to stand trial following a stay at Bridgewater State Hospital.

322 photos and six explicit videos of the victim were found on Peña's phone, according to a digital forensic specialist.

Peña admitted to having sexual relations with the woman to the jury, insisting that they are "in love" and that "she liked it," and the whole incident was okay because "she wasn't a sister or cousin of mine."

The prosecution had no questions for Peña after his testimony through a translator.

A psychologist, Dr. Young - who evaluates criminal defendants at an undisclosed state hospital, then testified, finding Peña's deposition was "not consistent with a major mental illness."

The defense says Peña is mentally unstable and tells the jury that if he is found "not guilty" then he would likely spend the rest of his life at a mental health facility.

The prosecutor addressed the jury in closing arguments saying Peña acted "deliberately, in a predatory manner, violently, and criminally," adding that Peña "knew what he wanted and how to get it."