A Dallas judge has ordered accused Lake Highlands rapist to submit to sexually transmitted disease testing.
A Lake Highlands women, one of three sexual attack victims in our neighborhood last spring, reportedly has petitioned the court to obtain HIV and AIDS screenings from suspect Cesar Benitez. Benitez agreed, but his lawyer, John Key, tells reporters that the testing is not an admission of guilt.
After an intense manhunt in April of this year, Benitez, also known as Pino Porcayo, was arrested and connected by DNA evidence to multiple rapes and attempted rape.
Soon after the arrest, we learned that Benitez was living in the U.S. illegally and that he had previously committed a sexually charged disorderly conduct offense.
Late in April, Advocate contributor Whitney Thompson dug into why Benitez was still in the country following that 2002 arrest—it seems he was deported but returned illegally, using aliases to slip through the cracks.
Benitez’s trial has not yet been set.