Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Raping Woman While She Slept

ST. THOMAS — Ten years in prison – with credit for 387 days already served – was the sentence V.I. Superior Court Judge Denise Francois handed down on Tuesday on Irvin Ocasio Flores for sexually assaulting a woman, V.I. Department of Justice Public Media Officer Corliss Smithen announced recently.

In a brief statement, Attorney General Claude Earl Walker said, “As the Department of Justice continues its aggressive stance of trying and winning these sexual assault cases, we will help to deter the type of despicable conduct for which the defendant has been convicted.”

Forty-two-year-old Ocasio Flores was punished for first-degree rape and first-degree unlawful sexual contact after a jury convicted him on June 16 of raping a woman while she slept.

Prosecutors had recommended that Ocasio Flores serve 30 years behind bars for the first-degree rape conviction and 15 years for the first-degree unlawful sexual contact conviction.

At Ocasio Flores’ sentencing, a statement from the victim was read into the record by Elma Brathwaite, Victim Advocate at the Department of Justice.

“I am fighting for my life because of what Irvin Ocasio Flores did to me,” the statement read.  “I cry every day because he destroyed my life, he destroyed my family… Because of the rape, I have lost a lot…Irvin Ocasio Flores is a danger to others because I believe he is sick enough to do this again to someone else.  I ask you to keep him in jail until it is time for him to go to the cemetery.”

Judge Francois sentenced Ocasio Flores to ten years each on the first-degree rape and first-degree unlawful sexual contact convictions, adding that the imposition or execution of the sentence for the first-degree unlawful sexual contact is stayed because the charge arose from the same conduct and it is therefore merged with the first-degree rape conviction.  He was ordered to pay $75 in court costs and before his release from prison, Ocasio Flores is also required to register under the Sexual Offender Act with DOJ.

During the course of the four-day trial, jurors heard the testimonies of seven prosecution witnesses, including the victim, who was overcome with emotion as she recounted the events of the Mar. 7, 2013 crime.

Ocasio Flores also took the witness stand, denied any wrongdoing and told the jury that the sexual encounter was consensual.

After almost three hours of deliberations, jurors returned a unanimous verdict and found Ocasio Flores guilty of both counts he faced – first-degree rape and first-degree unlawful sexual contact.

Assistant Attorney General John Tolud argued the case for the prosecution.