Crime & Safety

Henrique Marques Guilty of Sexual Assault

The five women and one man on the jury got the case at about 3:30 p.m.. and Marques' father said they split the verdict. Marques was charged with having sex with a 15-year-old when he was 23 years old.

Judge Robin Pavia gave the final instructions to the jury in the sexual assault case against Henrique Marques, and the jury started deliberating at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. They decided the case within 90 minutes.

Margues was charged with having sex in 2010 with a girl who was 15 at the time. He was charged with second-degree sexual assault and one count of risk of injury to a minor. A third risk charge, also risk of injury to a minor, was dropped during the trial.

Marques' father, who is also named Henrique, sent the following message to Danbury Patch via e-mail Tuesday.

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"I tried calling you earlier prior to leaving the courthouse to give you an update. My son was found guilty on the sex charge, and not guilty on the risk of injury to a minor. We were able to post his bail and he will return to the Danbury courthouse for sentencing on Friday, November 16th at 9:30am.

 Thanks again for being fair and honest with your articles.

Find out what's happening in Danburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 Sincerest regards,  

 Henrique P. Marques, Jr."

Before letting the jury deliberate, Judge Pavia explained the law to the jury. She said it is second-degree sexual assault for a 13 to 15-year-old person to have sex with another person more than three years older. If the older person knows or doesn't know the younger person's age, that doesn't matter. If both people are willing to have sex, the law says that doesn't matter, it is still sexual assault.

During the course of the trial, Defense Attorney Jennifer Tunnard was able to show the jury the victim in the case was the person pursuing sex. She called, texted, Facebooked and contacted Marque first. He didn't reach out to her.

Tunnard was able to get the victim to say she initiated sex with Marques. She got the victim to say the only reason she was testifying against Marques was she was subpoenaed to testify.

Marques faces two charges, second-degree sexual assault and one count of risk of injury to a minor. The jury is charged to come up with verdicts to each crime.


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