Florida Man Arrested in September Rape Case in Kent
A Florida man has been arrested by New York State Police after allegedly raping a victim in the woods near the Taconic State Parkway in the Town of Kent back in September.
According to NYSP from Cortlandt, troopers were called to a report of a sexual assault Sept. 2. It was determined that Orlando Martinez Morales, 34, of Jacksonville, Fla., operating as a taxi driver, agreed to drive the victim from New York City to a location north of Albany.
While en route, Morales stopped the vehicle on the shoulder of the Taconic State Parkway, entered the back seat and began sexually assaulting the victim, according to NYSP. He then brought the victim into the nearby woods and raped the victim.
On Dec. 5, with the help of Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies and NYSP investigators assigned to the U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Task Force, Morales was located and taken into custody in Jacksonville for extradition to New York.
He was charged with first-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act, felonies; and forcible touching, a misdemeanor.
Morales was arraigned in Putnam County Supreme Court and remanded by the Hon. Judge James Rooney to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $250,000 bail or $500,000 bond.
