By Sarah Elizabeth Villicana, The Porterville Recorder
Police reports from an case alleging the rape and false imprisonment of a woman by several suspects paint a twisted picture of events centered around sex, drugs and check fraud.

A preliminary hearing for four suspects arrested in October is two weeks away, beginning at 8:30 a.m., Dec. 20 in the Porterville courthouse.

Samantha Stuart, Robert Gracia, Steven Munoz Mejia and Benito Munoz were arraigned last month of charges ranging from kidnapping and false imprisonment to forcible rape and forced oral copulation.

The victim is an unnamed female from the Clovis area with a self-proclaimed ability to transfer money between bank accounts over the Internet, according to police reports.

On Oct. 10, Stuart, 23, and the victim were found by Porterville police in the garage of Gracia, 23, and Munoz, 37, in the 1000 block of North Wisconsin Way.

Stuart was initially believed to be a victim in this case. She and the victim told police they were held against their will and raped repeatedly by Gracia and Munoz.

The two women reportedly met Gracia Oct. 8 in Tulare. They agreed to go with him in a van, as a did a third woman, Maliena Collins. Collins met the victim in a drug rehabilitation center and introduced her to Stuart. They later arrived in Porterville at the home of Munoz and Gracia.

According to statement Mejia made to police, he and Munoz are brothers and Gracia is their cousin. Earlier that day, Stuart had received a phone call from Gracia, according to police reports.

Gracia told Stuart she owed him $3,000 for checks she had unintentionally thrown away. Stuart was reportedly in a sexual relationship with Gracia's former girlfriend.

Stuart reportedly told police Gracia threatened her life and the lives of his family during the phone conversation. Despite a threat, Stuart reportedly told police she contacted him the same day to “hang out.”

While in Porterville, Collins learned Stuart not only owed money to Gracia, but “has taken Gracia's girlfriend away from him” and that he “further planned to hurt Stuart,” according to police reports. She also reportedly told police the victim claimed to be a Bulldog, meaning a member of the Bulldog street gang in Fresno. She stated in the report “it was obvious that Gracia was a Northern gang member” and “Bulldogs and Northern gang members hate each other.”

Collins was taken home to Visalia but the victim was not permitted to leave until she had made fraudulent checks, police stated.

A computer and software needed to produce the checks were reportedly not available to the victim. At that time, police said Gracia decided to make money by prostituting the victim.

In an initial statement to police, the detective conducting the interview noted Stuart was not forthcoming with information. She reportedly did tell police she was raped by Gracia and another man known to her as “E.T.” In a second interview Stuart reportedly apologized for accusing “E.T.” of rape and said it never happened.

The victim reportedly told police she was forced to give oral sex to Gracia, his brother Mejia, 39, and “E.T.” She said Gracia also forced her to have intercourse with Munoz, police report.

During the two days the victim and suspects spent in the Porterville garage, police report Stuart and the victim admitted to using methamphetamine by injecting the drug.

Stuart claimed the victim “made her” inject the drug into the victims arm, according to authorities. The victim reportedly showed police about five places on her arm where she had been injected with methamphetamine.

In Gracia's statement to police, he stated he and the two women had planned to have sex together, but did not because the it would upset the victim.

The three starting sharing personal information instead and Gracia said he felt close to the victims and that “he could tell them anything,” according to police reports. He told the women he was the victim of molestation and the discussion led to the three of them injecting methamphetamine, according to police reports.

Gracia also reportedly told police he wished to clear his name because he had not raped anyone.

Munoz initially claimed he had not had sexual contact with either woman, as he lived with his girlfriend and the couple's two children, police report. Later Munoz reportedly told police he had received oral sex from the victim and she claimed to enjoy performing the act on males. Munoz and Gracia were arrested Oct. 10 after the victim passed a note to a Save Mart clerk stating she was kidnapped by “Nortenos on Wisconsin.” A few days later, Stuart and Mejia were also arrested.

The suspects will be back in court Dec. 18 in preparation for the preliminary hearing.

Contact Sarah Villicana at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or svillicana@portervillerecorder.com.

This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Dec. 7, 2006