Suspected Miami rapist has wife, children in Trinidad

A MAN accused of being a serial rapist in Miami has left behind a wife and children in Trinidad, according to a report in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. Reynaldo Elias Ra-palo made his first appearance before a Miami judge last week and was formally charged with attacking a number of women and children in Miami-Dade County in the past year. Police charged Ra-palo, 32, originally from Honduras, with five counts of sexual battery on a minor and adult, one count of burglary with assault and battery, one count of aggravated stalking, one count of criminal mischief and also with making a threatening phone call. Eleventh Circuit Judge Manny Crespo denied bail on the sexual battery and assault charges. The other charges pertain to an incident four months ago in which Rapalo allegedly smashed the car window of former landlady, Ara-minta Rodriguez. Rodriguez bailed Rapalo out of jail in 2002 after he was charged with aggravated assault but later asked him to leave, prompting him to get violent, Rodriguez said. If convicted, he could get life in prison.

Rapalo, 32, was arrested last week by Miami police investigators conducting surveillance in Little Havana on a different suspect. Rapalo drove through the area, and one of the officers, Sgt Will Golding, noticed Rapalo’s vehicle was similar to one previously described in the rape cases. He also noticed Rapalo acting suspiciously, police said. During last week’s hearing, Rapalo told the judge through an interpreter that he earned about $450 a week at his construction job, and used the money to support three children in Trinidad. He said his children are 11, nine and six years old. Rapalo said he had no savings, and owned only a 1993 Mazda Protege, which is the make and model in which he was arrested. Crespo ordered a public defender to be appointed for Rapalo. Rapalo, a construction worker, has numerous addresses and has been living in Miami on an expired visa, police said. “We had no tips about (Rapalo), and he was not a suspect,” said Angel Calzadilla, executive assistant to Miami police chief, John Timoney.

Orfelia and Julio Cesar Martinez, former landlords of Rapalo, said they have known him three years and saw him just last month. The Martinezes met Rapalo in 2000, when he rented an apartment in a building they managed along the 1500 block of Southwest Sixth Street in Miami. Orfelia Martinez said she also is from Honduras and often cooked for him. “He always treated me with respect,” she said. “I don’t think he would have hurt me.” However, Martinez’s husband, Julio Cesar Martinez, told a different story. He said when the men were alone together, Rapalo said crude sexual things about women and hollered vulgarities at them on the street. “He never talked about problems, never complained. But with women he was disrespectful,” he said. The rapist’s victims ranged in age from 11 years old to 79. He attacked at random, raped at least seven women and attempted to rape three more, police say.