Probable cause found against 1 of 4 rape suspects

The Superior Court has found probable cause to warrant the filing of two charges against one of four men, including a father and son, who allegedly raped a woman.

Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho found probable cause to believe that the crimes of sexual assault in the first degree and assault (domestic violence) were committed and that Joseph Aquino Saimon may have committed the offenses.

Camacho ordered Joseph Saimon, 42, to answer the charges.

Camacho, however, found no probable cause to believe that the other two counts of sexual assault in the first degree as the event and transaction are the same as the first count of the same offense.

The judge also found no probable cause to charge Joseph Saimon with two counts of kidnapping and a charge of disturbing the peace as the prosecutor failed to specify the unlawful acts were committed. He dismissed without prejudice the three charges.

Dismissal without prejudice means the prosecution may re-file the charges in the future.

Assistant public defender Jean Pierre Nogues is counsel for Joseph Saimon.

As to 19-year-old defendant Richmond Ray Keybond, Camacho found no probable cause to charge him with disturbing the peace as the prosecutor failed to specify the unlawful act was committed.

Camacho dismissed the charge without prejudice.

As to the charges of sexual assault in the first degree and attempted sexual assault in the first degree, Camacho ordered Keybond’s counsel Cong Nie to file the opening brief on or before Aug. 10.

Camacho set a motion hearing for Oct. 3 at 9am.

With respect to defendant Christopher Saimon, 38, the judge ordered his counsel, Oliver Manglona, to file the opening brief on or before Aug. 10.

The motion hearing will be on Oct. 3 at 9am.

Defendant Romeo Aquino Saimon, through counsel Charles McDonald, waived his right for preliminary hearing.

Romeo Saimon is the father of Keybond.

Romeo, Christopher, and Joseph Saimon are brothers.

Assistant attorneys general Teri Tenorio and Frannie Demapan, and chief prosecutor Michele Harris appeared for the government.

The preliminary hearing started last Monday and concluded yesterday.

Romeo Saimon, Keybond, and Christopher Saimon allegedly raped the drunken woman, who also complained that her former boyfriend, Joseph Saimon, kidnapped and raped her last June 25 or a day after the incident on Saipan.