Unfortunately, one of the judges is ill so there won't be a verdict now until at least next Tuesday.

The judges have ruled that the Puerto Viejo rapist must serve 56 years in prison! Hopefully he will never emerge. It must be such a relief for all concerned that justice has finally been served. It has been a long struggle.

Great news, moolyn, and glad to see that the system finally worked. Is it common in CR to serve the entire term? I hope so.

volcanogirl - Sadly, Rolando Brown was released "for good behavior" after serving just half of his first rape sentence. Look how well that worked!

This time there will be NO early release! He received the the maximum 50 years for this more recent series of rapes plus an extra six years to complete his first sentence. That's all I know for now.

THANK GOD!! This is great news, thank you for keeping us up to date. I wish peace and healing for all of his victims.

And congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make it happen.

moonlyn, I hope your niece can move towards recovery now, at least knowing he won't do this again to someone else.

Shay, I hope the same for you. Peace to you.

Moolyn, thank goodness. That is such a relief to hear he has received a good long sentence. Thank you for your efforts here to keep everyone informed
I hope your neice is doing well, and is able to put this behind her, as much as is possible.

Thank you all for your support throughout this long struggle. This thread is almost two and a half years old! At first it was just meant as a warning to women visiting Puerto Viejo but it turned into a tale of courage and the triumph of justice!

Shay passed along information received from her contact and authorized me to post it here:

Only the rape charge on another victim was accepted… for the other victims that could not see him the charges were not taken/or were dismissed….

He was convicted for the charges against you on attempted murder, attempted rape and aggravated robbery.

Just to tie up some loose ends of this long story:

There were no actual rape convictions. However the judges were very clear when they reminded Brown that there was no doubt in their minds that he had hurt many women and that the witnesses were telling the truth which is why he got such a harsh conviction for the other crimes.

My niece has been back to Puerto Viejo with a friend since then and is now more at peace. My family is relieved that the preditor is in prison and just hope that he will remain there for the full sentence as promised.

And I'm going to Costa Rica in January so hope to start a new and happier thread! Thanks again for all of your support!

moolyn - thanks for keeping us up to date on this. I am so glad that your niece went back to Puerto Viejo. A really smart move. Get rid of those ghosts! I know from one lady who lives in the area that a small group of people is meeting in various places and trying to bring some peace and tranquility just through their own thoughts and energy.

Please accept my best wishes for a wonderful trip in January.

It would be helpful, and might spur some judicial action, if this scumbag (whom everyone seems to know) had his picture published on here by a traveller. This might cause some problems for him. The only recourse for him is a civil suit to remove his pic or address the accusations. Usually rapists won't expose themselves to the public to defend their innocence and the pic and publicity will aid women in protecting themselves. There are a lot of REAL men around who do not fear a local drug kingpins pervert son I assume. How many women have to be raped beaten or even killed before someone acts?? Where I am from, rape is prevalent (as it is everywhere) but arrest and conviction of rapists is their best protection, as, if they are indentified in public and still on the loose, most family men and honorable guys would LOVE to get their hands on them. Sometimes taking the law into ones hands (in the absence of enforcement) can be to the benefit of all in the community and to those who visit. We as parents and fathers think in the terms of "What if it was my daughter??" And if it was, I pity the rapist.
If I obtain any more info (name and face) when we visit P.V. next year, you can be damn sure it is going to be posted by me because, if the C.R. justice system is ignoring this rapist they will surely ignore a foreigners accusations online so I ain't worried. Just want to give information so all residents and travellers can better protect themselves.

Blizzardcpl, indeed there was talk in the PV community and elsewhere about vigilante justice but fortunately the Costa Rican justice system worked, even though it was a long, uphill struggle on the part of concerned members of the legal system and many brave victims. Posting a photo may have inadvertently led to more tragedy as Brown has a twin brother who was innocent of any of the attacks.

hsmither, I'm glad to know that local people are meeting and attempting to restore tranquility.

Publisizing is hardly vigilanteeism, and if my twin brother was doing this, I would definitely have turned him in. We love Costa Rica, and feel proud to have friends there. We hate to see innocent people victimized by criminals and the justice system whether it be here in Ontario, Canada or Costa Rica, and as a father of 3 young ladies, this kind of story disturbs me on many levels. It leads me to beg the question, "are women truly equal in our society?".
I really believe equality and respect are goals which most of us strive for daily. Those in our society whom operate with no respect for others must sometimes be dealt with by use of force, as that is all these types understand. Sometimes these 'types' can even be leaders of whole countries.
Well I have negatively ranted on here to which I am sorry but thankful to you as well.
We sincerely wish all of you a Very, Merry Christmas and hope you all spend the holidays with someone you LOVE

So Glad Rolando Brown will be serving the rest of his life in prison!!!!! AWESOME

Blizzardcpl, I appreciate your emotional reaction to this story which I started sharing here two and a half years ago. As the father of three daughters, like my brother, I know that you totally empathisized with what happened to his middle daughter and so many other women.

We can't really say that this story has a happy ending because so many women have been traumatized and are still in the process of healing. However, the conviction and severe sentence has brought some closure and the victims are finding peace and moving on. My hope is that lessons have been learned which will prevent a serial rapist situation like this from happening in this place and elsewhere again.