A Winnetka man whose rape trial for an assault in Valencia was expected to begin Thursday was ordered to appear back in court next week for another pre-trial hearing.
Etienne Juarez Rosas, 26, appeared Thursday in San Fernando Superior Court only to have his case postponed until Monday.
Rosas was charged a year ago with one count each of kidnapping to commit rape and forcible rape, as well as two counts of sexual penetration by foreign object.
He was ordered to appear in court Monday.
Rosas was held to answer to all the charges filed against him on March 15, 2016, said D.A. spokesman Ricardo Santiago.
A former cook at the Azul Tequila restaurant on Tourney Road in Valencia, Rosas is being held on $4 million bail.
The assault and rape for which he is charged allegedly took place at 4 a.m. Oct. 25, 2015, when sheriff’s officials say he approached a 25-year-old woman standing next to her vehicle parked outside the Denny’s restaurant in the 27500 block of Wayne Mills Place in Valencia near where Azul Tequila is located.
Rosas spoke to the victim briefly before forcing her into her vehicle, investigators said at the time of his arrest.
He then “viciously assaulted her, both physically and sexually, for several minutes,” according to a Sheriff’s Department news release issued last year.
The victim was able to hit the horn of her vehicle, at which point Rosas allegedly stopped his assault and fled on foot.
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