Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Woman at Centre County Motel

State police at Rockview on Friday arrested a man charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a Bellefonte area motel.

The woman told police that she was asleep in a room at the Econo Lodge on Benner PIke in Benner Township and awoke to Jose S. Lainez, 50, sexually assaulting her, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Lainez and the woman were work colleagues who were in the area on business and placed in the room together with another man by their employer, police wrote.

She pushed Lainez away during the assault in the early morning hours of April 22 and went to another colleague’s room, where Lainez called her and told her not to go to the hospital, according to the affidavit. The woman did, however, go to Mount Nittany Medical Center and was interviewed there by police.

She said that she did not give consent to Lainez, had no prior sexual relationship with him and had previously informed him she was not interested in a relationship with him, police wrote.

Lainez left the motel and both the woman and their employer said he may have traveled to Pittsburgh. Police used cell phone location pings to determine he was in the city, according to the affidavit.

He was was charged with a felony count of sexual assault and was arraigned on Friday by District Judge Casey McClain, who denied bail, writing that Lainez was a flight risk and a danger to the community. Lainez is detained at the Centre County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.