Stanislaus County DA charges man with rapes of seven women in 3 California counties
A suspected serial rapist with seven accusers in three counties will be prosecuted in Stanislaus County, where the majority of the alleged crimes occurred.
Joseph Frank Pineda Pimentel, 37, was charged last week with seven counts of rape by force or fear and one count each of sexual penetration by force, attempted rape by force, sexual battery of a restrained person and sexual penetration by a foreign object, according to a criminal complaint. He also faces enhancements that allege there were multiple victims and that he administered methamphetamine to one of the victims.
The crimes are alleged to have occurred from February 2017 to August 2021, according to the complaint.
Pineda Pimentel was originally charged in Tuolumne County with two counts of forcible rape. He’d been in jail there since early September but was transferred to the Stanislaus County jail on Saturday.
“Our county has decided to turn over the prosecution of our cases to Stanislaus County ... as they have more cases with more victims,” Tuolumne County Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter said late last month.
Turlock Police Department investigators first identified Pineda Pimentel as a suspected serial rapist in late August after getting lab results that connected him to a June 15 incident. Pineda Pimentel’s DNA profile — in a database because of a 2009 rape charge that was ultimately dismissed — matched not only their case but a June 4 assault in Sonora.
In both cases, authorities allege Pineda Pimentel offered rides to homeless women, then drove them to locations they didn’t want to go to and raped them by force.
Turlock police arrested Pineda Pimentel but he posted bond on $150,000 bail.
Sonora police arrested him several days later at Adventist Health Sonora. He worked at the hospital as a surgical technician until being fired after his arrest.
Tuolumne County prosecutors charged him in connection with the June 4 rape and later added a second rape charge when another woman came forward accusing Pineda Pimentel of assaulting her in August.
More women in Stanislaus County also reported being sexually assaulted by Pineda Pimentel, and a 2017 rape case in Fresno was reopened.
Some of the alleged rapes were detailed in a motion filed in Tuolumne County before the case was transferred.
One woman said a suspect injected her with an unknown substance before she was raped, and another said he threw cash at her after assaulting her.
In most of the cases, the victims were walking and Pineda Pimentel offered them a ride. In one instance, an 18-year-old high school student was on her way home from school in Fresno, according to the motion.
One woman told investigators she met Pineda Pimentel at a “transient motel.” She said she had consensual sex with him the first time but was forced on two subsequent occasions after she told him no. Both alleged sexual assaults occurred after she got into into a vehicle with him, according to the motion.
“She indicated that she didn’t report the incidents to law enforcement because the defendant was a nurse and her status as homeless and former drug addict meant that ‘no’ had no meaning,” according to the motion.
A press release issued by Turlock police at the time of his arrest said Pineda Pimentel was a Denair resident, but the motion said he essentially was transient. He told investigators he stayed in “random hotels” and occasionally with his mother in Manteca.
During an arraignment in Stanislaus Superior Court on Monday, Pineda Pimentel pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the enhancements.
When asked if he wanted to waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing and trial, Pineda Pimentel appeared unsure. “I just want to uh, you know, fight this,” he said.
The judge told him he still has the right to fight the charges, it just wouldn’t happen as quickly.
Pineda Pimentel is being held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court Dec. 20 for a bail review hearing.
This story was originally published December 7, 2021 at 10:30 AM.
