Charges loom for city man after alleged sexual assault
WOONSOCKET — Despite having been ordered to keep away from his exgirlfriend after being convicted of assaulting her in September, a city man allegedly snuck into her apartment and sexually assaulted her, police say.
The victim told police it was the latest of multiple violations of the no-contact order, including a series of text messages in which he threatened to kill her, some of which she received just hours before the alleged attack.
“He told her that he swore on his child that he would kill her,” a police report says.
Police said they found Joel Melendez- Corales Friday at about 11:40 a.m. – the morning after the alleged assault – in the victim’s Bourdon Boulevard apartment. He apparently gained entry by kicking in the door after the victim had left for work.
Melendez-Corales allegedly tried to escape, but police captured him after a foot chase along a stretch of railroad tracks on the fringe of the public housing complex. He faces a string of charges, including domestic
sexual assault in the first-degree, violation of a no-contact order, making crank phone calls, two counts of resisting arrest, domestic breaking and entering, domestic disorderly conduct and obstructing police.
The night before, Melendez-Corales allegedly entered the victim’s residence and woke her when he walked into her bedroom. She said he climbed into bed with her.
As he accused the victim of being unfaithful to him, MelendezCorales allegedly raped her twice with his hand, saying he was doing it to find proof that another man was with her.
She told police her brother was in the apartment during episode and that he succeeded in calming down an “extremely upset” Melendez-Corales.
Because of the death threats – MelendezCorales allegedly threatened to kill her in the past if she told anyone about earlier assaults – she allowed him to sleep in the same bed with her that night, but there was no further sexual contact.
When she left for work the following morning, she told police, Melendez-Corales followed her. After arriving at work, she realized she was so emotionally shaken that she could not stay.
She went to the police station and reported the incident, at which point police began searching for Melendez-Corales at her apartment. Police said he answered the door, but when Patrolman David Chattman reached out for his arm to restrain him, he allegedly pulled away and ran off.
A number of police officers chased him through apartment buildings in the housing project before they caught sight of Melendez-Corales on the outskirts of the complex, near Robert Avenue.
Police said Melendez-Corales made a dash for a nearby railroad bed and continued running about 75 yards down the tracks before he was apprehended.
Police said the victim, a 26-year-old woman, was referred to a domestic violence advocate for possible placement in a shelter.