US tourist denounces rape in Puerto Viejo

A U.S. woman, age 27, filed a criminal complaint against a man who she says raped her last Sunday on a beach in the southern Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo, according to the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ).

On Tuesday night, National Police officers in Limón province arrested a local resident with the last names Santos Hernández, 38, as the main suspect.

The man was identified after OIJ agents reviewed footage from a security camera at a bar, where both the victim and suspect had been before the alleged rape. The video shows the suspect approaching the victim.

OIJ said Santos has a criminal record associated with rape.

The police report states that the attack occurred last Sunday at around 3 a.m. on a beach near the bar where the suspect approached the victim. According to the statement “the man forced the tourist to leave the bar, [and] took her to the beach, where he allegedly raped her.”

The Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday morning that a criminal court in the Caribbean canton of Bribri ordered preventive prison for three months against the suspect while OIJ agents proceed with the investigation.

Puerto Viejo is located in the south Caribbean. (Via Google Maps)