Convicted rapist gets 20 years

Man found in Charlotte after he fled in '02 to El Salvador

By Christy Mullins - cmullins@heraldonline.com

In the last six years, Jose Alvarenga became a father and planned to marry in his native El Salvador. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, found guilty of raping a 15-year-old girl in his Fort Mill apartment in 2002.

After his arrest in the York County rape seven years ago, Alvarenga bonded out of jail and fled to El Salvador before his conviction. Local authorities said they were powerless to bring him back because that country doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States.

But last week, police found Alvarenga, now 26, working at a McDonald's restaurant in Charlotte. They responded to a complaint that an employee had been stealing cash from the registers at the restaurant on Albemarle Road. That employee was believed to be Alvarenga, officials said.

“We never thought he'd come back,” said Deputy Solicitor Willy Thompson of South Carolina's 16th Judicial Circuit. “You hear about dumb crooks — well this one could be added to that.”

Officials aren't sure how long Alvarenga had been back in the United States before his overdue capture. Thompson tried the 2002 rape case, in which Alvarenga was absent but still convicted, with assistant solicitor Lisa Collins.

On Wednesday, Alvarenga's mother, stepfather, aunt and a friend wept in a York County courtroom, while his attorney bargained with the judge for a lesser sentence than the one sealed with the guilty verdict.

“This was a violent, inexcusable crime,” said defense attorney Phil Baity, “but it could have been a lot worse.”

On June 24, 2002, Alvarenga, then 19, picked up the victim from her home in Charlotte. He drove her to the Palmetto Place apartments on S.C. 160 in Fort Mill where he lived, according to York County Sheriff's deputies.

Alvarenga and the girl had planned to smoke marijuana after the girl had a fight with her boyfriend, deputy solicitor Thompson added in court.

Thompson said when the girl's curfew was approaching, Alvarenga binded her with a cord from a PlayStation game system and another cord from window blinds, then raped her. Several times, the girl asked Alvarenga if he was going to kill her, Thompson said.

Alvarenga then forced the girl into the shower to wash away any evidence of the crime. He dropped her off four or five blocks from her home, and the family called police.

On Wednesday, the defense attorney reminded the judge that the victim rode willingly to Alvarenga's apartment as an acquaintance, and that his client may have gotten the “wrong impression” about her intentions there.

The attorney also noted that Alvarenga was 19 at the time of the rape, and that he has since started a family that solely relies on his steady employment at several restaurants across York and Mecklenburg counties.

Baity went further back to Alvarenga's school record, which shows that at 19, he was in 11th grade, and that he had been held back due to a learning disability.

“He is an intellectually slow, hardworking man who just made a huge mistake,” Baity said about his client. However, the judge did not flex the sentence.

Alvarenga faced a maximum sentence of 33 years.

Judge John Hayes III sentenced Alvarenga to 20 years on the criminal sexual conduct charge and three years for a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Those sentences will run concurrently.

Thompson said the victim and her family were pleased to hear that Alvarenga had been captured, but that they didn't appear at Wednesday's sentencing because “they just want to move on.”

The verdict also fell on the ears of satisfied detectives and attorneys who put a lot of work into Alvarenga's conviction, Thompson said.

When he is released, Alvarenga will have to register as a sex offender. Thompson said federal officials are considering deporting him after he serves his time. While Alvarenga is a legal U.S. citizen, Thompson said, he was born in El Salvador, and it is unclear when he or his parents gained citizenship.