Brawley man awaits sentencing for sexual assault

EL CENTRO — A Brawley man is scheduled for sentencing next week in Santa Clara County Superior Court after having pleaded no contest in October to multiple sexual assault-related charges.

As part of a court o er, Luis Ramirez Venegas could potentially face up to four years in prison or possible probation during his sentencing on Jan. 11.

He will also have to register as a sex o ender, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s O ce stated.

The then-San Jose State University chemical engineering student was arrested March 5 by university police following a March 3 report of the sexual assault of a male SJSU student at a campus housing building.

A subsequent investigation reportedly revealed an additional male victim of sexual assault, the university reported at the time of Venegas’ arrest.

On Oct. 4, Venegas pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with intent to commit a felony, two counts of oral copulation of an intoxicated person incapable of resisting and false imprisonment, the Santa Clara County DA’s O ce reported.

The five felony charges reflect the same five o enses that Venegas had originally been booked into jail for on March 5, the Santa Clara County DA’s O ce stated.

Venegas had initially been held on $210,000 bail at Elmwood Correctional Complex in Milpitas, but has since been released.

He was 21 years old at the time of his arrest.

His release from custody and return to the Valley has created some concern among the local LGBT community.

Those concerns stemmed from the discovery that Venegas was actively seeking encounters with other individuals via the use of a popular social media app for gay men.

“We are concerned for our population in Imperial County,” said Rosa Diaz, Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center executive director. “This guy is free to roam and to be in contact with individuals who could potentially be victims.”

Venegas’ return to the Valley following his arrest and detention in San Jose had been brought to Diaz’s attention by a client of the resource center, Diaz said.

News of Venegas’ arrest and detention also reached former Brawley resident Jenna Schoneman, who in turn contacted investigators to recount to them the sexual abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of Venegas in the past.

Schoneman was scheduled to testify on behalf of the prosecution during Venegas’ trial, but did not get the opportunity to do so after Venegas agreed to the court offer and pleaded no contest to the charges, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County DA’s Office stated.

Schoneman, a 22-yearold transgender woman whose legal name is James Schoneman, said she had dated Venegas while they both were in high school during the 2012-2013 school year.

During that time, Venegas on several occasions had allegedly become verbally and physically abusive, and on one occasion attempted to choke her, Schoneman said.

Schoneman also alleged that Venegas sexually abused her after she rejected his sexual advances on more than one occasion, but that she did not report the incidents to anyone out of fear.

“He had a lot of friends, and I was afraid no one would believe me,” Schoneman said.

News of Venegas’ release from custody and the possibility that he may receive probation instead of prison time also proved to be upsetting for Schoneman, who has since married and currently resides outside of California.

“He was a significant portion behind a lot of the trauma I had,” she said. “It really felt like a lot of the horrible stuff he had done was going to go unanswered.”

Some news reports from the San Jose area provide stark details of what Venegas was accused of doing, and reveal a pattern similar to what Schoneman alleged she experienced.

The two victims in the criminal case both reported to authorities that Venegas had attempted to choke them after they rebuffed his sexual advances, according to news reports published shortly after Venegas’ arrest.

Venegas was also accused of performing oral sex on one of the victims after the victim passed out from drinking too much alcohol in 2014 and 2015, according to several media reports.

A University Police Department captain also told the SJSU student newspaper, Spartan Daily, that Venegas had been the subject of a Title IX investigation in 2017.

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that provides university and colleges with resources, reporting options and information when they report sexual misconduct.

Venegas did not respond to a request for comment that was sent to one of his social media accounts.