By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Payne County jury deliberated for six hours before convicting a Stillwater man, who was a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Oklahoma State University at the time of the attack, of raping and beating his ex-girlfriend, as well as destroying some of her property, two days after she broke off the relationship, prosecutor Debra Vincent told KUSH.
At the close of a three-day trial last week, the jury, which was composed of eight men and four women, recommended a five-year prison term for first-degree rape, a $5,000 fine for hitting her in the head, and a $250 fine for damaging her property. The jury acquitted him of choking her.
Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler ordered Esteban Daniel Hernandez, 38, who has also been known as Steve, placed in the Payne County Jail pending his sentencing on March 17. Hernandez had been free on $100,000 bond, court records show.
“It is my understanding he was suspended from OSU after these allegations,” in 2018, the prosecutor said, adding that Hernandez had minimal reaction when he was convicted on Feb. 27.
“The victim and her family were very relieved and satisfied by the verdict. Her life has been on hold to some extent throughout this process and we are hopeful this will allow her to move on,” the prosecutor told KUSH.
“Sexual assault cases are very difficult, especially when the victim and defendant have had a prior consensual relationship. We found this defendant to present a real threat to the community because of his career plans,” in counseling, the prosecutor explained.
“We commend the jury for seeing beyond the victim-blaming that was the focus of the defense in this case and making the defendant accountable for his actions,” Vincent added.
Hernandez had been arrested by Stillwater police on Aug. 2, 2018, court records show. An investigation began when Hernandez’ ex-girlfriend, who suffered a concussion, went to the Stillwater Medical Center emergency room for treatment, a Stillwater police news release said.
Hernandez’ ex-girlfriend obtained an emergency protective order against him on July 6, 2018, a week after the attack, court records show.
In her EPO petition, Hernandez’ ex-girlfriend said, “I met Esteban in a local coffee shop approximately at the end of March 2018. We went on a date. About one week later, he showed up to my house unannounced with a gift while I was at work. Over the next few weeks, we continued to date.
“About one month later, we began having arguments. I felt manipulated and controlled in the relationship and I told him our relationship was unhealthy. He asked me to ‘un friend’ males from Facebook and got very jealous of other male friends. He was verbally abusive towards me and made me feel uncomfortable.
“I tried to break up with him multiple times due to feeling unsafe and uncomfortable including an incident where he had tried to force me to have sex with him. After breaking up with him one month ago (in 2018), he came to my door the next morning and told me he didn’t want to be alone.
“I felt worn out from dealing with him and I let him back in. Within the next few days, I tried to speak with him expressing I didn’t see a future with him. Again, he argued with me and I finally gave up the argument. At this point, we continued our relationship. I was working on his birthday and had picked up an extra shift that week. The following weekend, I was to go out of town on a trip I had planned with a friend.
“He woke me when I was sleeping to express how upset he was about the extra shift and the trip. He got upset when I didn’t respond with compassion and left my house. He then called me almost immediately after leaving. I expressed to him I did not want to continue the relationship.”
On June 29 at 2 p.m., Hernandez came to her house, tried to get her to continue the relationship, but she “looked him in the eyes and said, “I am breaking up with you and that’s it,” according to her EPO petition.
Hernandez said, “Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?” according to her EPO petition, which alleged Hernandez punched walls, punched paintings she had done, smashed a mirror and four picture frames, ripped up two of her paintings, repeatedly hit her in the head, asked her if she had been cheating on him, called her names, raped her, and slammed her head in the couch multiple times.
“He told me he was going to kill my ex-boyfriend and bring me the body. He then stated he would slit my ex-boyfriend’s throat in front of me…I tried to go out the door at one point and he picked me up and threw me across the room.
“I had been dry heaving. I was severely nauseated, dizzy and slightly disoriented. I asked him to take me to the emergency room because I felt that I had a concussion. He said, ‘no you’re fine.’ I asked him again if he would take me to the ER. I promised I wouldn’t say anything. He agreed and told me to tell the ER that I tripped over my dog and fell.
“When we arrived at the ER, it was about 10 p.m. He was in the room the entire visit,” including during a CT scan, her EPO petition alleged.
After she went to the Stillwater emergency room a second time to get medical assistance and a sexual assault examination, her physical injuries were documented including a bruise on her left temple area, a scratch on her right cheek area, redness around the sides and front of her neck, bruising on her left ankle and bruising on her lower back, Stillwater Police Detective Mary Kellison wrote in an affidavit.
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