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November 09, 2026
LANSING – Last week, two Kalamazoo men, Juan Estaban Paz, 30, and Mario Alexis Rodriguez-Barraca, 31, were bound over to stand trial in the 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo County on three counts each of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
It is alleged that Paz and Rodriguez-Barraca raped a then-18-year-old woman in Rodgriguez-Barraca's Kalamazoo apartment in 2015. The two men allegedly invited the victim, a prior high school acquaintance of Paz, to the apartment, provided her with marijuana and encouraged her consumption of alcohol, before repeatedly assaulting her, resulting in bodily injury and significant mental anguish. The victim reported the alleged assault in 2015, which was investigated at that time and later referred, by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, to the Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). Preliminary examination and bind over occurred on November 2nd.
“Our SAKI units across the State provide essential efforts toward justice for many victims of sexual assault, and I’m grateful for their efforts and our partnership,” said Attorney General Nessel. “In many cases, justice remains possible even years after an assault, and the Kalamazoo SAKI unit is a leading example of how to bring these cases before a court and jury.”
“These cases are extremely important and often have taken a difficult path,” said Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey S. Getting. “The pursuit of justice on behalf of the victim is one that the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office is committed to no matter the obstacle. We will do our best on behalf of this, and every other, survivor of sexual assault.”
The State’s SAKI was established in 2016 to investigate and prosecute sexual assaults related to previously untested sexual assault evidence kits. The SAKI project provides sexual assault victims with the opportunity to have their cases re-investigated in a comprehensive, trauma-informed manner. The Kalamazoo SAKI is a collaborative project of the Michigan Department of Attorney General, the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office, and the YWCA of Kalamazoo.
The Kalamazoo SAKI unit asks that anyone with information about this incident or similar conduct by Paz or Rodriguez-Barraca contact Kalamazoo County SAKI Investigator Nick Bobo by phone at 269-303-8524 or by email.
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Please note: For all criminal proceedings, a criminal charge is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Department does not provide booking photos.
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