A 17-year-old girl was walking along a road in Cadet, Missouri, on October 2 when she was reportedly grabbed off the street, her mouth covered, and dragged into a nearby residence. Washington County prosecutors have since charged two men in connection with the attack, and both now also face federal immigration detainers.
Oscar Baltodano Lopez faces first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sodomy, resisting arrest, and possession of a controlled substance, according to St. Charles County Missouri Scanner Traffic. Co-defendant Benjamin Santez Lopez was charged with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy; court records indicate he denied having sexual contact with the victim during police questioning, per that same source. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Washington County prosecutors charged the two men with sexually assaulting the teenage girl after she was kidnapped and grabbed off the street.
Bathroom Standoff Ends in Arrest, Meth Found
During the execution of an early morning search warrant on October 2, Oscar Lopez locked himself inside a bathroom, forcing Washington County deputies to break down the door to take him into custody, the scanner traffic report notes. Deputies later discovered methamphetamine in his bedroom. A third individual present at the residence was also taken into custody but was not charged, according to the same account.
Cadet sits in Union Township and is home to an estimated 4,000 residents, according to Point2Homes. The unincorporated community is about six miles northeast of Potosi. Washington County spans 762 square miles in total, including 760 square miles of land, and had a 2020 census population of 23,514, with Potosi serving as the county seat, per Wikipedia. That works out to a sparse population density of roughly 31 people per square mile across the county.
Federal Immigration Detainers Add a Second Legal Track
Federal authorities issued immigration detainers for both Oscar Baltodano Lopez and Benjamin Santez Lopez, according to STL.News. Their immigration histories remain unclear, and a detainer does not establish unlawful entry or presence. Immigration detainers request that local jails hold non-citizens for up to 48 hours past their state release date. Importantly, the detainers are administrative federal requests rather than judicial warrants issued by a criminal court, and they run on a separate legal track from the state charges, which carry a presumption of innocence until proven in court.
The Case Remains Pending
The charges are allegations, and both men remain presumed innocent unless convicted.
Both men remain charged, not convicted, and the case will proceed through Washington County's court system as prosecutors pursue the felony counts outlined against each defendant.
