Two women claim sexually assaulted by a Kennewick man while passed out

A 33-year-old man is charged with sexually assaulting two women while they were passed out.

The new allegations against Erik Martinez Iniguez were made when the Kennewick man was being investigated for the rape of preteen boys.

Iniguez has pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to two counts of indecent liberties. His trial is set for Aug. 8.

In the meantime, Iniguez faces a charge in Franklin County District Court for first-degree child rape. That case was filed in August.

A hearing is scheduled June 6 to determine if it should be moved to Superior Court.

Iniguez is out of custody on his personal recognizance and continues to work for the Kennewick School District as a plumber during the graveyard shift.

He was hired by the district in May 2014.

“There are no children in the schools during these hours,” said district spokeswoman Robyn Chastain.

During the Pasco Police Department’s child rape investigation last year, several women reportedly came forward to say they had been inappropriately touched by Iniguez.

One woman gave details about incidents in 2013 and 2014 in which she had passed out on a couch after drinking too much and woke up to find Iniguez touching her or forcing himself on her, court documents said.

She said she told one of his family members about it and got the response that he “was drunk and didn’t know what he was doing,” documents said.

Another woman who saw one of those incidents was being interviewed by police when she allegedly revealed that Iniguez also had touched her inappropriately. She said he helped her as she got sick from drinking, then proceeded to touch her. He reportedly then left her alone when she tried to move away from him.

The charges allege that the women were incapable of consenting because they were mentally incapacitated.

In the Franklin County case, a boy reported being at a Pasco home in 2008 when Iniguez coaxed him into a small room, ordered him to undress and then raped him, court documents said.

Another boy told detectives that Iniguez used to put his hands down the child’s pants and inappropriately touched him, documents said. He claims that happened at least once, but believes it was several times.

This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 11:31 AM with the headline "Two women claim sexually assaulted by a Kennewick man while passed out."