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Man guilty of raping girl in 2005

Nick Daggy Alfredo "Mario" Lopez-Cruz (center) was found guilty on one charge of kidnapping and four charges of rape Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Butler County Common Pleas Court. Lopez-Cruz kidnapped a 9-year-old Hamilton girl from her bike and raped her in 2005.

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Gary Stelzer Alfredo "Mario" Lopez-Cruz appears in Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth's courtroom Wednesday in Hamilton.

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Nick Daggy Alfredo "Mario" Lopez-Cruz (center) was found guilty on one charge of kidnapping and four charges of rape Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer Updated 8:50 PM Wednesday, February 1, 2012

HAMILTON — The adoptive parents of a young girl raped and kidnapped by Butler County’s former “most wanted” fugitive say their daughter can finally start “healing from the nightmare she suffered at the hands of this monster.”

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three hours Wednesday before deciding “Mario” Lopez-Cruz was guilty of one count of kidnapping and four counts of rape for his attack on a 9-year-old Hamilton girl on Fathers Day 2005.

Lopez-Cruz faces life in prison without parole until he spends 10 years in prison on the rape charges and up to 10 years on kidnapping. Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth will sentence him March 15.

The jury believed the now 15-year-old girl when she told them the defendant raped her multiple times in a Hamilton home across from her father’s residence on Sycamore Street.

Lopez-Cruz fled the area and eventually the country after the crime. Law enforcement at several levels hunted him for six years until he was apprehended in Mexico and brought back in September to stand trial. The rape ignited unrest in the Fourth Ward, with fire being set to the crime scene and race riots nearly breaking out.

Jurors would not glance at the defendant as they filed into court at around 5:30 p.m. The victim’s parents collapsed in each other’s arms after Spaeth read the verdicts. They asked Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer McElfresh, who tried the case, to read a statement.

“Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers offered on her behalf,” she read. “They were felt and we were truly thankful.”

The victim took the stand on Monday. The girl was relaxed and calm until she was asked to reveal the painful, graphic details. Her face crumpled and she started crying. After her tearful family and friends left the courtroom, she was able to recount the events of June 19, 2005.

When asked at one point if she did anything to stop the attack she responded, “It hurt. I was in too much pain to be doing anything.”

She testified Lopez-Cruz raped her vaginally, anally twice and orally. He told her if she tried to scream he’d kill her, she said.

McElfresh said the girl is responsible for sending Lopez-Cruz to prison.

“What’s most impressive is the courage of this child, after all this time, to be able to come forward and stand up to the man that abused her,” McElfresh said. “Her courage is amazing and we’re very grateful she had the courage to do what she did and to the jury for its verdict.”

Prosecutors produced a “mountain” of evidence against Lopez-Cruz, including her blood on his mattress, his fingerprints on her purple Precious Pearls bike, his saliva on her chest and thigh, and medical evidence that she had been raped.

During a videotaped interview with Lopez-Cruz when he was returned here, he gave many details of the events of June 19, 2005, but could not remember the rape. He claimed to have “passed out and blacked out.” But McElfresh reminded the jury during closing arguments he also stated, “If it’s my DNA absolutely something happened.”

McElfresh called a dozen witnesses to the stand, including the victim, her grandmother, police, medical and forensic experts. Defense attorney Lawrence Hawkins didn’t call a witness.

After the verdict, Hawkins described his client as “sullen” and said it was a disappointing outcome. He tried to interject some hope for his client, first asking for a mistrial because he questioned how police showed 20 photos to people trying to identify the rapist. The judge denied the request. Hawkins then asked to be able to see the photos, again the answer was denied.

Just before closing arguments, Hawkins asked Spaeth to include the lesser offense of gross sexual imposition because he said no semen was found, one doctor said rape was inconclusive and the saliva wasn’t proof she’s been raped. Spaeth said the evidence supported the rape charges.

Spaeth said he would consider a motion by Hawkins to merge allied offenses, meaning the sentence could be reduced.

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