Image Credit: Advantus Media Inc. and QuoteInspector.com / CC & Hamilton Co. Jail
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Deputies from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office have arrested an undocumented immigrant from Mexico for raping a 15-year-old Ooltewah girl in 2022.
Erik Santillan was arrested on December 17 and charged with aggravated rape.
According to police reports, the incident occurred on June 20, 2022, when the victim was at a friend’s home on Auburn Hills Drive.
The girl told investigators that she and her friend accompanied Santillan to purchase alcohol when the friend’s parents went to buy groceries. She said all three of them drank alcohol when they got back to the house and that Santillan was “chugging” several beers.
The victim stated that she went to lie down after beginning to feel dizzy and that her friend went with her.
When the girl woke up later, she realized she had been sexually assaulted. She told Santillan’s aunt, who was the woman of the house, but “the aunt was protecting Erik because shew as afraid of law enforcement becoming involved.”
After the girl told her parents, police were immediately contacted. An exam later confirmed that an assault had taken place and that there were internal injuries as a result.
The friend’s father told police at the crime scene that he had not given anyone permission to drink at the residence. The friend also told investigators that she had woken up and saw Santillan raping the girl.
At the time, Santillan evaded police and was on the run, leaving law enforcement to believe that he had returned to Mexico.
He was eventually tracked down in Orlando, Florida, where police were able to speak to him by phone. However, Santillan went on the run again but was eventually caught and arrested in Greenville, South Carolina.
He is currently being held on a $500,000 bond in the Hamilton County Jail.
