Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Department last week announced the arrest of a 46-year-old rural Sutter Creek man on charges alleging that he raped a 19-year-old Amador County woman in April.

Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner released details about the incident, investigation and arrest, saying that on August 11, Frank Vega Junior, 46, of Sutter Creek, was arrested after Amador County Superior Court issued a warrant charging him with “rape of a person unconscious of the act.” Bail was set at $50,000.

Wegner said on April 1, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office “was notified that a 19-year-old female resident of Amador County was at Sutter Amador Hospital reporting that she had been the victim of a sexual assault.”

A Sheriff’s “Deputy responded to conduct an initial assessment, which resulted in Amador County Sheriff’s Detectives being dispatched to conduct a criminal investigation,” Wegner said. “Detectives interviewed the victim and requested a sexual assault examination be conducted by medical personnel. Detectives then interviewed witnesses, drafted and executed a search warrant at the scene of the crime, recovered physical evidence and interviewed the suspect.”

Wegner said the “investigation determined the victim had attended a small gathering of 18- to 19-year-olds at a residence in the unincorporated area of Sutter Creek in the earlier morning hours of April 1. Vega subsequently arrived home from work and joined the gathering.”

He said the “19-year-old victim ultimately went into a spare bedroom at the residence to sleep. The victim subsequently awoke to” Vega “sexually assaulting her.”

Wegner said the “investigation was forwarded to the Amador County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.” Amador Superior Court issued the arrest warrant Aug. 11, and Vega was arrested and booked into the Amador County Jail by sheriff’s detectives.

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