Crime & Safety

Danbury Man Accused of Sexual Assault Day After Prison Release

Details emerge about Daniel Colon's sexual assault charges from the Arrest Warrant Application.

Daniel Colon, 35, who is homeless, was released from an 18-month prison sentence on Nov. 13, 2012, and police said he was charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old the day after his release.

The victim was the daughter of Colon's long-time girlfriend. The 17-year-old told police she grew up with Colon in the house, so she considered him her step-father, although he wasn't, according to the police arrest warrant application.

"Before he went to jail, he wasn't involved with us for about 5 years because my mother kicked him out because my little sister, who is his biological daughter, found a heroin needle that was his," the victim told police. "Danny would be very mean when he shot up heroin and when he drinks sometimes."

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On the day after his release, Colon, the victim and her mother were watching a movie on the mother's bed, and Colon touched her under the blankets but over her clothes, she told police.

"I didn't know what to do or what to say and I just laid there," the girl told police. "I couldn't believe he was doing this to me. I didn't know if I should tell my mother or keep it to myself. I didn't say anything to my mother about it because I didn't want my mother to get mad or upset or be hurt and I didn't want him to get mad at me and I was scared of him. I didn't know what to do."

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The victim started staying out late, she told police, to avoid being in the house with Colon. That led to fights with her mother, who she called dumb because the mother didn't see what was going on. Eventually she told her mother and her uncle. They confronted Colon, who denied it. The uncle told the police and the police investigated.

The uncle told police the victim hadn't told people at first because Colon had threatened to snap her neck and kill her family if she told anyone, according to the warrant application.

Colon told police the fights started in the family because the victim stayed out late and she was mad at her mother. Colon told police the girl threatened her mother by saying either Colon goes or she goes. He said the girl threatened her mother by saying she'd get DCF to take away her children.

Colon agreed he had been on the bed with the victim and on the couch, where a second assault was reported to have taken place. He said he and the victim always joke around and wrestle. He agreed he had been home alone with her, but he said he had never touched her and nothing sexual had taken place.

Danbury Superior Court Judge Susan Reynolds ordered Colon to stay away from the victim by giving him a protective order on Feb. 7, and he crushed the order in his hand when the marshal gave it to him. He is being held on a $75,000 bond for his next scheduled appearance in Danbury Superior Court on Feb. 28.

According to the state of Connecticut Judicial Department, Colon has previous convictions for third-degree robbery, sixth-degree larceny, failure to appear, second-degree threatening, driving a car with a suspended license, violation of probation and other offenses.


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