Posted on 10/18/2005 4:14:35 PM PDT by SmithL
OAKLAND - The adult son of Oakland City Councilman and mayoral hopeful Ignacio De La Fuente is facing new felony sexual assault charges in addition to a pair of rapes he is accused of committing in Oakland.
Ignacio De La Fuente Jr., 32, appeared this morning in Alameda County Superior Court, where a prosecutor said he plans to file the additional charges.
"There's an amended complaint with new charges,'' Kevin Murphy, a deputy district attorney, told Judge Winifred Smith.
Murphy said, however, that the new charges will not be formally filed until De La Fuente Jr.'s next court appearance, scheduled for Nov. 1.
Citing a gag order imposed in the case, neither Murphy nor the defendant's attorney, Robert Beles, would elaborate on the new charges.
Law enforcement sources said, however, that the new charges stem from a pair of Oakland attacks in October 2003 in which two women claim they were attacked in separate incidents. Both women told authorities they fought off their attacker before the assaults could progress.
De La Fuente Jr. has been held without bail at Santa Rita Jail for the past six months on charges that he committed two rapes: the first in August 2004 and the second on April 16, when he is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl. An enhancement to the latter charge also asserts De La Fuente Jr. kidnapped the girl to commit rape.
If convicted as charged in the two rape cases, De La Fuente Jr. could be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
At a hearing in May, Judge Smith called the two attacks "stranger rapes.'' She then declined to set bail for De La Fuente Jr., asserting that his behavior as alleged "does pose a great danger to this community and the women in the community.''
News of the new charges comes as the elder De La Fuente, president of the Oakland City Council, attempts to ramp up his bid to replace Jerry Brown as Oakland mayor in the June 2006 election.
De La Fuente, who has served on the City Council for 13 years, could not be reached for comment this afternoon.
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