TIM Onopey and Frankie Rettanlug are accused of raping a 17-year-old girl on May 29, 2022 in a beach area.
Onopey, 25, and Rettanlug, 27, are each charged with sexual assault in the first degree.
They appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan on Tuesday morning for a bail hearing. Judge Bogdan imposed $50,000 cash bail on each of the defendants who were then remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections.
Onopey and Rettanlug were ordered to return to court on June 8 at 10 a.m. for a preliminary hearing, and on June 13 at 9 a.m. for arraignment.
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government while Assistant Public Defender Karie Comstock appeared for Rettanlug. The court said it will appoint a defense counsel for Onopey.
According to the complaint against Onopey, prior to the incident, he gave the 17-year-old a beer, which she accepted. He then repeatedly asked her to swim with him. She said she eventually agreed.
“They swam to the buoy with her back facing Onopey” who then “grabbed her right thigh, turned her around to face him,…pulled both of her legs then placed her between his chest and stomach area.”
The victim said Onopey then started sexually assaulting her.
She said she tried to move away from Onopey, but every time she did, he would pull her back with a much firmer grip.
According to the victim, she repeatedly asked Onopey to stop. When he stopped, he told her, “Tomorrow again.” She said that she responded, “Yes, tomorrow” because she was scared that he was going to hurt her in the water.
They then swam to the shore. She said she was afraid to get help because Onopey was still in the area.
She said she laid down to rest because she was very dizzy and felt like she was going to faint. She said she took a nap.
When she woke up she said Rettanlug approached her and asked what happened to her and Onopey.
She said Rettanlug asked her to go closer to the shore. She refused, but he dragged her to the beach, she said. When she fell, she said Rettanlug started sexually assaulting her.
She said Rettanlug told her, “Don’t tell me to stop, I know you want this.”
The victim said when she managed to get away from him, he grabbed her legs and dragged her back, but she kicked water to his face, which caused him to stop.
When she got away, she said she went to where there were people she could talk to about the incident.
In a statement to the police, Rettanlug said “I pulled her to the water.”
He said while they were having sex in the water, she told him to stop “three times.”
He said she “ran away…maybe scared.”
Rettanlug also told police that he knew she was 17 years old because he heard Onopey ask her about her age earlier.
