New victims, details emerge in suspected serial rapist case
The total number of victims against an accused serial rapist currently jailed in Tuolumne County has risen to six, according to public documents from Tuolumne County Superior Court.
A recent court filing in the case from the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office, which successfully raised bail to $1 million for Joseph
Frank Pineda Pimentel, 37, of Manteca, revealed new details about the scope and mechanics of his alleged schemes in picking up vulnerable women and sexually assaulting them.
One victim from Stanislaus County “indicated that she didn’t report the incidents to law enforcement because the defendant was a nurse and her status as homeless and a former drug addict meant ‘no’ had no meaning,” said a declaration in the filing, which was made by Tuolumne County Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter, who is prosecuting the case.
The release of the information coincides with an ongoing push from law enforcement to seek out new potential victims in the three counties where Pineda Pimentel is now accused: Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Fresno.
Pineda Pimentel is in custody at the Dambacher Detention Center in Sonora on suspicion of two felony forcible rape charges stemming from allegations by two seperate victims. Criminal enhancements related to kidnapping on the first charged victim carry punishments which range from 15 years to life.
Pineda Pimentel was arrested by Sonora police on Sept. 7 at Adventist Health Sonora, where he worked as a surgical technician, on suspicion of forcible rape after DNA evidence allegedly linked him to the rape of a homeless woman within the city on June 14.
Turlock police had previously arrested Pimentel on Sept. 2 and booked him into Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of raping a homeless woman there in a similar manner on June 4, though he was released after posting bond.
Pineda Pimentel was charged again in Sonora on Sept. 15 when another alleged female victim came forward on Monday and accused him of raping her, as well.
Sonora Police Officer Thomas Brickley said last week they do not believe the third woman was homeless and that she may have been an acquaintance of Pineda Pimentel. He also didn’t know the date of the alleged crime or the conditions surrounding it.
Pineda Pimentel has pleaded not guilty in the first charge.
Jaquelyn Lugg, spokeswoman for Adventist Health Sonora, confirmed Tuesday that Pimentel was no longer employed by the hospital.
Lugg said she could not provide additional information related to personnel matters at the hospital.
Turlock Police Department spokeswoman Deandra Wiley said there were now three confirmed victims being investigated within Stanislaus County by the Turlock Police Department, with more potential victims still coming forward.
“Kind of considering his timeline of his first offense until now, there is a lot of time that has gone by,” Wiley said.
But there were some concerns that homeless women who may have been sexually assaulted were not coming forward with their stories, Wiley added.
“We really want to reach out to them, and say yes they’re still a victim, it’s still a crime,” she said. “We want all potential crimes he committed to females out there to be reported and make sure that he’s held accountable.”
A spokesperson for the Fresno Police Department could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The request for a bail increase and an attached declaration from Hovatter detailed some of the alleged crimes.
It indicated Pineda Pimentel took the first identified Sonora victim to a secluded location, exited the car to make sure no one was around, then injected her with a substance she believed to be methamphetamine before sexually assaulting her.
“She did not resist out of fear for her safety,” the motion said.
The motion further indicated that the biological sample which led to his arrest in the case was matched to rape investigations in Fresno and Turlock.
“These investigations, involving DNA, show that the defendant presents a threat to the public,” the motion said.
Detectives have said Pineda Pimentel’s DNA record stemmed from a 2009 arrest on suspicion of rape while he was in the military, but that case was dismissed.
The new charge related to the second alleged victim in Tuolumne County was filed on Sept. 17.
Pineda Pimentel also allegedly told an investigator that he did not have a home address, but instead stayed in hotels or with his mother in Manteca. He said he regularly picked up women in bars or on the street if he felt they were attractive and would take them for food, flirt with them, or have sex with them if they consented.
His position as a surgical technician at Adventist Health Sonora was presumed to be high-paying and would enable him to make bail.
Hovatter said he spoke with Turlock Police Det. Timothy Redd, who was investigating a suspected rape of a homeless woman who was allegedly picked up by Pineda Pimentel in Turlock.
After the alleged assault, Pineda Pimentel is suspected of taking the woman across the street to a Wells Fargo Bank, where he withdrew money and threw it at the victim as he left her.
The woman reported the assault, which led to the positive confirmation of Pineda Pimentel’s DNA, and his subsequent arrest.
Following the release of Pineda Pimentel’s photo, a new possible victim of sexual assault, a homeless woman, came forward.
“She described to Detective Redd three instances of sex with the defendant, the last two against her will,” the declaration said.
She said in May 2021 that Pineda Pimentel offered her money for sex at a transient motel and she consented after “much cajoling,” the declaration said.
In the second instance, the suspect picked her up at the same motel. She said while she was eating, he took her to an unfamiliar residential neighborhood and said he wanted to have sex.
When she said no because they were in a residential neighborhood, she said the defendent got out of the car, went to the passenger side, unbuckled her seat belt, then had sex with her, despite her verbal resistance.
The third time, she met him at a liquor store and he asked her to get in his car.
“She refused, telling him that every time she had gotten in his car, he had sex with her and she was not interested,” the declaration said.
Pineda Pinedal continued to pressure her and said no sex would occur, the declaration alleged.
The defendant then allegedly drove her to a remote location where he sexually assaulted her, according to the declaration.
A third possible victim in Turlock was described in the declaration as a school teacher who recognized the picture of the defendant and said he sexually assaulted her in the past.
Hovatter also said in the declaration that he spoke to Deputy District Attorney Nicole Galston from the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, who illuminated him to a 2017 case in which Pineda Pimentel was suspected of raping an 18-year-old high school student.
In that case, the girl was walking to school when a man stopped his vehicle and offered her a ride. She initially refused, but then got into the car when he said he would smoke marijuana with her.
They drove to a location and she got in the back seat with the man, who partially removed her clothing and raped her.
The victim discreetly called 911 and when the defendant heard the operator, he ordered her from the car and left the area.
A biological sample obtained by the girl matched Pineda Pimentel, the declaration said.
The victim gave statements in 2017 and 2019, but there were inconsistencies which arose in her accounts, the declaration said.
In the first statement, she only indicated to digital penetration during the sexual assault, and in the seond statement, she indicated rape as well. In 2019, she was also shown a 2015 DMV photograph of the then-bearded defendant, which she said looked like him if there was no beard. There were additional inconsistencies related to how she got in the backseat, the presence or use of marijuana and the location where the assault took place.
The next court date in the case is set for Sept. 23 in Tuolumne County Superior Court to schedule a time and date for a preliminary hearing.
Hovatter could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, and it was unclear whether the trials on the various charges would be consolidated to a single trial or tried separately.
Sonora and Turlock police have said investigators are seeking public input on whether there are any additional victims, who are believed to reside in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills.
Homeless advocates have been asked to encourage any additional victims to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sonora Police Department at (209) 532-8141 or Det. Redd at the Turlock Police Department at (209) 6647325.