Victim faces her accused rapist at court arraignment

The woman who authorities said was raped by a Roosevelt man in September came to Nassau County Court in Mineola Monday to witness the public reading of the charges against her alleged attacker.

The 36-year-old woman, who authorities did not name, sat in a small courtroom, a few feet behind Ever Martinez-Reyes, 24, the man accused of assaulting her and knocking her unconscious on Sept. 28 in Freeport.

Martinez-Reyes, a Salvadoran immigrant who officials said is in the United States illegally, was arrested on Oct. 5 and indicted by the grand jury on Oct. 19 on two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and four counts of second-degree assault.

He was arraigned on these charges Monday before State Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald.

“How do you plead?” the court clerk asked Martinez-Reyes. “Guilty or not guilty?”

“Not guilty,” Martinez-Reyes replied through a Spanish-speaking interpreter.

The woman, who wore large sunglasses and a beige, knit scarf over her head, left McDonald’s second floor courtroom, without speaking to reporters. Her friends and family also declined to comment.

It’s not known whether Martinez-Reyes was aware that the alleged victim was in the courtroom. His court-appointed attorney, Joseph Lo Piccolo of Garden City, said he didn’t ask and his client didn’t say.

On the day of the attack, police said Martinez-Reyes followed the woman and knocked her unconscious before he sexually assaulted her on the front lawn of a Parsons Avenue home. The woman woke up during the attack and Martinez-Reyes ran off.

The attack — which occurred near Northeast Park about 1:45 a.m. — was captured in video surveillance footage, authorities said. They said they received numerous tips pointing to Martinez-Reyes, who authorities said had no prior convictions.

Police said Martinez-Reyes first came to the United States in 2010 after crossing the border in Texas. Martinez-Reyes, 16 at the time, was sent back and crossed the border again illegally in 2014. He had been living in Roosevelt illegally for the last four years and worked as a day laborer, police said.  Lo Piccolo said Martinez-Reyes has three sisters living in Nassau, but his client did not live with them.

On Monday, McDonald ordered Martinez-Reyes held without bail. The judge also issued a new order of protection, barring Martinez-Reyes from having any contact with the woman. 

The judge ordered Martinez-Reyes to return to court on Nov. 19 for a status conference.