TW: The following article describes a sexual assault and includes images from surveillance footage taken moments before an assault took place.
In June, Rodolfo Ramirez, 28, entered a guilty plea in a Maricopa County Court room regarding a sexual assault that occurred in Scottsdale, AZ in September 2016. He pled guilty to one count of sexual assault, a class 2 felony, and four counts of attempted sexual assault, which were all class 3 felonies.
This week Ramirez was served with a seven-year prison sentence and lifetime probation (per AZFamily.com). Ramirez had been a professional MMA fighter since 2013, with his last fight taking place in 2016 for Iron Boy Promotions in Phoenix, AZ. Ramirez also competed in amateur MMA between 2009 and 2012.
Scottsdale Police say that on September 17th, 2016 Ramirez approached an inebriated 22-year-old woman who was sat outside of a bar at the corner of Shoeman Lane and Brown Avenue. The woman, a college student at Arizona State University, was waiting for a friend to pick her up and take her home.
CCTV footage revealed that Ramirez picked up the drunk woman and slung her over his shoulder. A police report stated that the victim looked like ‘dead weight’ in Ramirez’s arms. Footage then shows him taking the woman to a nearby parking garage, where the sexual assault took place.
From the parking garage, Ramirez took the student back to his home. The victim would later tell police that she woke up in Ramirez’s apartment, naked from the waist down and missing her cell phone and shoes. The student said she cried when she saw Ramirez in the home and fearfully accepted a ride to her friend’s dormitory building.
As soon as Ramirez dropped off the student, she called Scottsdale police and reported the incident.
Seven years is the shortest sentence Ramirez could have received, as stipulated by his plea agreement. However, the judge could have given him a sentence up to ten years. In addition to the jail sentence and lifetime of probation, Ramirez will be placed in the state’s sex offender registry.
Survivors of sexual assault in the US can find support via the following organizations:
US – Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN)’s National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). RAINN also has an online chat service.
Love is Respect, 1-866-331-9474. They can also be reached via online chat or by texting LOVEIS to 22522.
End Rape on Campus (EROC), 1-424-777-EROC (3762).
Canada – Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, 1-877-232-2610.
UK and Ireland – UK Says No More.
Rest of the World – International Rapes Crisis Hotlines.
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