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Portales man charged with sexual assault

A Portales man charged with the criminal sexual penetration of a 14-year-old girl was released from jail Tuesday on a $30,000 cash bond.

Jose Zamora, 29, of Portales has been accused of raping the girl in March during an overnight stay at his home, according to the criminal complaint.

Zamora was arrested on Friday and charged with criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual contact of a minor, and giving alcoholic beverages to a minor.

Jose Zamora

Released from jail Tuesday

A phone listing for Zamora couldn't be located. Zamora's attorney, Tye Harmon of Clovis, was not available to comment Wednesday.

The teen told investigators she was drunk when the alleged rape happened.

According to the affidavit:

  • The teen said the night of the incident, Zamora picked her up from her Portales home so she could stay the night with a Zamora family member and bought alcohol for them to drink.
  • The teen said after drinking several alcoholic beverages, she felt sick and fell asleep near the toilet. She said Zamora picked her up from the floor and carried her to a bed, where she went back to sleep.
  • The teen said she woke up and Zamora was on top of her and she felt pain. She screamed and kicked Zamora and shook her friend to wake her up. She said both of them told him to stop, which he did.
  • After passing out, the teen said she woke up and he was assaulting her again. She woke her friend up for help, but he persisted to assault her and she eventually passed out.
  • The teen said Zamora told her the next morning if anything happened, she cannot tell anyone because he didn't remember anything.
  • Although the crime wasn't reported until nearly a month later, the teen said she asked her friend if she remembered the incident the next day and her friend said she did not. She said her friend didn't believe her about being raped.
  • Zamora said the alcohol he bought the night the victim stayed over was for him, although admitting he noticed a few bottles of alcohol were missing when he was at home.
  • Zamora said he did pick the teen up and placed her on the bed, but that was the only time he touched her that evening.
  • Zamora said he has not spoken to the teen since the night she stayed at his home.

Zamora is charged with five felonies. His next appearance in court will be a preliminary examination hearing in June.

 
 
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