By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Payne County judge has given a jury-recommended five-year prison term to a Stillwater man, who was a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Oklahoma State University at the time of an attack in 2018, for raping his ex-girlfriend two days after she broke off the relationship.
Esteban Daniel Hernandez, 38, was also given a jury-recommended $5,000 fine for hitting the woman in the head and a $250 fine for damaging her property, by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler, who ordered him at his June 16 sentencing to register as a sex offender on his release from prison.
A Payne County jury, composed of eight men and four women, had deliberated for six hours before convicting Hernandez of those charges and acquitting him of choking the woman, prosecutor Debra Vincent said.
Hernandez had been free on $100,000 bail until his conviction at the end of a three-day trial in February when the judge ordered him jailed pending his sentencing that occurred last week.
The prosecutor said, “It is my understanding he was suspended from OSU after these allegations,” two years ago.
“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 said.
“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.
According to a petition for an emergency protective order that the woman obtained a week after the attack, on June 29, 2018 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."”
Hernandez said, “Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?” according to her EPO petition in which she alleged that 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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