Man Accused Of Raping Migrant Girl Pleads Guilty

By Jude Joffe-Block
September 17, 2014

Jose
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
Jose Ramon Mancinas-Flores

A man accused of raping a 14-year-old migrant girl who he was guiding across the Arizona border has pleaded guilty in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. It is one of the rare instances where a border rape case is able to be prosecuted.

Fronteras Desk reported on this case earlier this year. 

When U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of migrants south of Arivaca Road in Southern Arizona last winter, they learned that a 14-year-old girl in the group had been raped.

The accused man was Jose Ramon Mancinas-Flores, a 23-year-old Mexican national who was helping to smuggle the migrants.

The victim was from Oaxaca and was traveling without her parents. Because she said the assaults happened once the group crossed into Santa Cruz County, authorities there had the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the crime.  

This week, Mancinas-Flores agreed to a plea deal, and pleaded guilty to the felony charges of sex with a minor and smuggling for profit.

His sentencing is scheduled for next month, and he faces five to ten years in prison.