A Mexican foot guide who admitted to repeatedly sexually assaulting an unaccompanied 17-year-old girl while helping lead her and others across the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced Monday to more than five years in prison for human-smuggling offenses.
Cecilio Yonatan Jimenez-Bautista, 27, pleaded guilty last year to three counts of bringing undocumented immigrants into the U.S. As part of his plea agreement, Jimenez-Bautista admitted that he isolated the teenage girl from the rest of the group during a three-day journey, groping her on the first two nights of the trek and raping her on the last night.
Prosecutors dropped more serious charges directly related to the sexual assault as part of the plea deal, but both sides agreed to an increase in the potential length of his sentence tied to the admissions about the assault.
U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez sentenced Jimenez-Bautista in San Diego federal court to five years and four months in federal prison, following the recommendation made by prosecutors. She told him that the harm he caused will be carried by his victim for the rest of her life.
“You cannot force yourself on anyone,” Lopez told the defendant. “Not here, not in Mexico, not anywhere.”
Federal authorities have highlighted the case as an example of one of the many dangers migrants face, offering it as a cautionary tale for those seeking to enter the country unlawfully.
“The dangers of human smuggling cannot be overstated,” Chad Plantz, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations’ San Diego office, said in a statement at the time Jimenez-Bautista was indicted. “… This child entrusted her safety to smugglers. They, in turn, demonstrated that they value profit over human life.”
According to the plea agreement, Jimenez-Bautista helped guide dozens of undocumented immigrants across the border on at least eight occasions from March to June 2022.
In mid-June of that year, Jimenez-Bautista and his brother set off from Tijuana leading a group of 10 people across the border and into the Otay Mountain wilderness area, where the defendant purposely isolated the victim from the rest of that group, according to the plea agreement. He admitted that on the first two nights, he touched the girl without her permission both over and underneath her clothing. On the last night, he forced her to have sex with him “by threatening and placing (the victim) in fear.”
Jimenez-Bautista threatened the girl just before the attack that Border Patrol agents were nearby and that if she yelled, they would be caught, prosecutors wrote in sentencing documents. The girl told investigators she was afraid of Jimenez-Bautista and “did not fight the rape because she was afraid of being apprehended.”
Agents eventually caught the group anyway. While Jimenez-Bautista was quickly returned back to Mexico, the victim was interviewed and then taken to a hospital for an exam after she reported the rape to Border Patrol agents.
Agents arrested Jimenez-Bautista about two weeks later shortly after he led another group across the border.
The victim appeared at Monday’s hearing via video, telling the judge through a translator that she’s had a “difficult time” since the assault and that Jimenez-Bautista has put her through a lot.
“I do want him to pay for what he did,” she said.
In sentencing documents, defense attorney Charles Guthrie downplayed the assault as a “situational encounter” and argued it wasn’t as bad as other rape cases because his client did not use force or violence. Guthrie also remarked upon the victim’s appearance, writing that she didn’t look like she was underage.
Lopez chastised Guthrie in court for minimizing his client’s “egregious conduct,” saying she was perplexed by his characterization of events.
“That is a problem — a problem I’m not going to allow in my courtroom,” Lopez said.
Guthrie, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, apologized to Lopez, telling the judge he “completely failed” to make the points he was trying to make.
