The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Greenwich man charged with sex assault
NORTH CANAAN » A 22-year-old man was arrested Tuesday and charged with sexually assaulting a minor.
Taiel Gookool, of Prospect Street, Greenwich, was charged with second-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and providing alcohol to a minor, police said.
On Nov. 12, 2016, state troopers were notified that a 14-yearold girl was an alleged victim of a sexual assault incident at a North Canaan home. The victim’s father reported the assault after he overheard his daughter tell a family member during a phone call, police said.
When the father asked his daughter about the phone conversation, she said a man named “Tai” had sexually assaulted her, the arrest warrant states.
The victim said she was staying at her friend’s house during
the summer of 2016, and Tai was a friend of a friend. One night Tai and another male friend sneaked into her friend’s house at night and brought alcohol, according to police.
The victim told police Tai wanted her to go into a bathroom with him, and he later sexually assaulted her.
After the incident, the victim alleged Tai contacted her through text messages, asking her if she wanted to “hang out.” The
victim’s friend confronted Tai about the incident, but he denied it, according to police.
The juvenile friend’s mother awoke around 4 a.m. and found all four of the people sleeping. The mother got upset and called 911, but said she had not seen any alcohol or drugs, according to the affidavit.
The two girls said they had invited the boys over, the mother told police. She said she did not know what happened until the victim’s father told her, according to the affidavit.
When police Gookool, questioned he initially
claimed not to know the victim or her friend but eventually asserted he knew the girls through social media. After he was told about the allegations and witness statements, Gookool allegedly replied, “[s]o I raped her then” and added, “I’ve been in this situation before.”
Gookool was charged with sexual assault in two separate cases in 2015, according to the Greenwich Time.
This week, Gookool allegedly refused to submit fingerprinting when he was arrested and was also charged with refusal
to submit to fingerprinting, police said. Bail is set at $100,000.
Gookool was arrainged Tuesday in Bantam Superior Court, according to court records. Bond was set at $100,000, cash or surety.
A protective order was issued, according to court records. Gookool was directed not to assault, threaten, or abuse the victim; obey the protective order; and not to have contact with anyone under the age of 16.
His case was transferred to Litchfield Superior Court and continued to Sept. 8.