Silvas

slideshow

DOBSON — A counseling session has yielded an arrest in a two-year old rape previously unknown to law enforcement, Sheriff Graham Atkinson announced late last week.

According to the sheriff, Jesus Alberto Pinzon Silvas, 18, was arrested last Wednesday and charged with first degree rape after his alleged victim recounted the reported incident to a therapist.

Silvas, of 626 Mount Herman Church Road, has been charged with the forcible and statutory assault on the girl, who was 12 years old at the time of the incident.

Atkinson said the victim and the alleged perpetrator struck up a casual relationship on the ride back and forth to school.

“Silvas and the girl met and became friends on the school bus prior to the assault,” he said.

The incident occurred after the alleged victim left her home to meet Silvas, according to the sheriff.

“She had slipped out of her home to meet him when the (alleged) incident occurred two years ago, and she did not initially report it,” he said.

According to the sheriff, the incident came to light when the victim was attending counseling, and the sheriff’s office was notified after the counselor became aware of the alleged crime.

Silvas was booked into the Surry County Jail under a $200,000 bond.

No further information is available, and the name of the victim is not being released.

Reach Keith Strange at kstrange@heartlandpublications.com or 719-1929.