Rape accusations against Idaho firefighter

An Idaho prisoner sent to help fight a wildfire in Utah raped a woman who also was working to support firefighters, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The woman had rejected several advances from Ruben Hernandez, 27, in the days before the Aug. 29 assault at the base camp, Sanpete County attorney Kevin Daniels said. Hernandez has been charged with felony rape.

Hernandez was in Utah as part of a program similar to those run in other Western states such as California, where hundreds of minimumsecurity inmates fought on the front lines of the state’s largest-ever blaze this year.

Hernandez was part of a 10person crew that cooked, cleaned and did other support work at the base camp about 130 kilometres south of Salt Lake City, Daniels said.

Inmates are typically allowed to move about fairly freely, Daniels said. Hernandez doesn’t have a history of assault or similar crimes, he said.

Inmates released for wildfire work are usually low-level offenders nearing parole dates, Daniels said.

“Historically, there’s not been a whole lot of problems. This is very, very atypical,” the prosecutor said.

No attorney was immediately listed for Hernandez in Utah court records, and a message left for one of his previous attorneys was not immediately returned. He is being held without bail in Utah.

The woman told police Hernandez had been flirting with her and asked for her number, and she gave him a friend’s husband’s contact information to get him to leave her alone, according to charging documents filed Friday.

One morning as she was sitting in a wash trailer watching a movie, Hernandez came inside, exposed himself and asked for oral sex. He assaulted her after she again rejected him, according to charging documents.

She froze, afraid to scream or stop him because she knew he was a prisoner and didn’t want to get hurt, the charges say. She told a friend, who reported the assault to basecamp security guards.