A Yonkers man who has had multiple relationships with foreign women he met online is under investigation over sexual abuse claims by at least three of them – including one who has accused him of raping her at a White Plains apartment last month.
Pablo De La Cruz, 33, a dentist not currently practicing, was arrested Friday, July 10, by White Plains police and charged with first- and third-degree rape, second-degree assault and first-degree sexual abuse. He is accused of forcibly raping a woman on June 8 at 5 Cottage Place as she told him in essence “No, I don’t want to have sex; I don’t want this”, according to the felony complaint filed in City Court.
Investigations of De La Cruz remain ongoing by the Westchester District Attorney’s Office and the FBI, it was revealed Tuesday, July 14, at a bail hearing in Westchester County Court.
At the hearing, defense lawyer Michael Bachner insisted De La Cruz was not a flight risk despite holding passports from both the United States and the Dominican Republic and extensive world travel in recent years. He lived with one of the women in Kazakhstan – and she in turn lived with his family in Yonkers – and also with women in Dubai and Russia.
Bachner told Westchester Judge Erin McGoey that the women have significant credibility issues and could be making up the abuse claims in an effort to stay in the United States by getting so-called U-visas intended for crime victims.
The reason De La Cruz is not working as a dentist, Bachner said, is because he was disabled when one of the women who has made allegations against him stabbed him in the hand. He said De La Cruz did not pursue criminal charges against the woman but that he did obtain an order of protection against her.
Assistant District Attorney Molly O’Rourke asked for De La Cruz to be held without bail, saying he had sufficient assets to get out of the country on a private jet and has a pattern of being able to “sustain residences” outside his home and the country. In the alternative she asked that bail be set at $175,000 cash, $300,000 bond or $750,000 bond requiring 10 percent, $75,000, in cash.
McGoey granted bail in those amounts, ordering De La Cruz to surrender both his passports as well as any other travel identifications he might have and to sign a waiver to return, meaning he would not contest extradition back to New York if he fled and was caught.
De La Cruz, who appeared virtually from the Westchester County jail, is expected to be freed as early as Tuesday afternoon once a bond is posted.
According to the felony complaint in White Plains, the sexual abuse occurred over several hours on June 8. De La Cruz is accused of pinning the woman down with his body and arms in order to rape her and also slapping and biting her.
De La Cruz faced allegations by one of the women that he had sexually abused her in Dubai. Bachner said he was “exonerated” in that case following a hearing after text messages revealed that the woman had demanded $250,000 from De La Cruz to drop her allegations. He responded by text that he was not going to pay anything over false accusations, Bachner said.
The lawyer said that De La Cruz’ mother and sister, who were both in court, were extremely supportive of him and that his mother would use the collateral of their Yonkers home for the bond. That was ample proof that De La Cruz was not a flight risk, Bachner said.
“He would not flee and essentially have his mother become homeless,” Bachner told McGoey.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers man charged with rape in White Plains
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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By Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
