Kennewick man accused of raping victim from unlawful imprisonment case

A Kennewick man who forced a young teen girl to go with him to Mexico in 2013 now is accused of raping her after being ordered to stay away.

Edwardo F. Flores Rosales, 21, has been found competent to stand trial for allegedly ignoring a court order just six months after pleading guilty to the unlawful imprisonment.

Prosecutors allege he told the girl in March that if she didn’t have sex with him, she would go to jail because he would tell people she violated the order by coming to his house looking for him.

Flores Rosales has pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to felony violation of a post-conviction protection order and two counts of third-degree rape of a child.

His trial is set for Oct. 26.

A competency evaluation was ordered in April after concerns were raised about Flores Rosales’ mental health.

Psychologist Daniel J. Lord-Flynn with Eastern State Hospital met with Flores Rosales in the Benton County jail and conducted a series of tests, in addition to interviewing him about his background and family history.

Lord-Flynn diagnosed Flores Rosales with an adjustment disorder with a depressed mood, but said there had been noted improvements in his overall mental status and sleep pattern while in jail.

The psychologist also determined that Flores Rosales has the capacity to understand the case against him and to help his attorney with his defense. The court agreed earlier this month in entering a competency order.

Flores Rosales was charged in December 2013 with second-degree kidnapping for picking up the girl during her school lunch break and driving her to Mexico. Flores Rosales and the girl had broken up the night before she went missing, and the girl told her mother they were going to say goodbye at lunch.

The girl’s mother sent numerous text messages to Flores Rosales trying to get in touch with her daughter, but he lied about knowing her whereabouts before admitting they were almost to Mexico, court documents said.

The mother asked for photo confirmation that her daughter was OK, but Flores Rosales would send older pictures and prevented the girl from using the phone.

The case triggered an Amber Alert.

The mother eventually learned of her daughter’s location in Mexico and traveled there. After reportedly being threatened by Flores Rosales and his father that the girl was their property, the mother got help from the government and law enforcement to remove the girl from the home, documents said.

The mother and daughter ultimately returned to the Tri-Cities, as did Flores Rosales. He pleaded guilty in September to unlawful imprisonment and was sentenced to three months in county jail because he had no criminal record.

The conviction included a five-year no-contact order, which the court said could be lifted if Flores Rosales completed domestic violence treatment. The girl and her mother both requested the restraining order, saying they were afraid of Flores Rosales and his family.

Then on March 2, Flores Rosales allegedly confronted the girl as she was leaving school and told her to get in his vehicle. The girl told police she followed his order because he had assaulted her in the past and she was nervous, court documents said.

The girl said Flores Rosales took her to his apartment and forced her to have sex, and she couldn’t leave because he held her down on the couch, documents said.

She was taken to Trios Health in Kennewick to be examined.

Police arrested Flores Rosales that same day at his Kennewick apartment.

He denied the girl had been in his home and said it would her word against his, court documents said. He then told Detective Bill Dramis that they would find marks on the girl’s arms from him grabbing her as she tried to get out of his vehicle, and he wasn’t done talking to her.

Dramis asked if they would find any DNA evidence on the girl, and Flores Rosales admitted they had sex but claimed they had been in a relationship after his sentence on the fromer case, documents said.

Flores Rosales is being held on $75,000 bail. He has a new restraining order involving the girl for two years while this case is pending.

This story was originally published August 30, 2015 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Kennewick man accused of raping victim from unlawful imprisonment case."