The 27-year-old victim of a brutal sexual assault at a Hazle Township apartment is in stable condition and expected to survive, troopers said Wednesday.
State police at Hazleton updated the female victim’s medical condition Wednesday morning after receiving information from Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Township, where she is being treated. Police said the victim underwent intensive surgery after the assault.
The Citizens’ Voice does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Her accused assailant, Emmanuel Paulino of West Hazleton, remains incarcerated on $250,000 bail, according to a court docket. He awaits a preliminary hearing scheduled before Magisterial District Judge James Dixon, Hazle Township, at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 27. Paulino was charged him with 10 criminal offenses, most of them felonies such as aggravated assault, rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse stemming from Tuesday’s alleged attack.
Troopers seized clothing and bed linens, some of which included blood or suspected blood, along with a bong and a case from a kitchen closet, from the home where the attack allegedly took place, a search warrant indicates. Bloodied items or samples were retrieved from two children’s bedrooms, the master bedroom, the bathroom and from the kitchen garbage can where a bloodied tissue was found.
Paulino, according to an additional search warrant connected to the investigation, was taken to Hazleton General Hospital for treatment of a laceration after the assault.
He told troopers he took “Molly,” the street name for an illegal narcotic, when he was interviewed about the assault Tuesday, court papers state. Police secured a search warrant to have samples of his blood drawn for a drug test and to obtain finger nail clippings from his hands to be tested for the victim’s DNA.
In September, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning about using the drug “Molly.” The press release states the illegal narcotic is a well-documented and dangerous designer drug that surfaced at a number of large music events this year, with overdoses and deaths reported.
The pure, high quality powder form of the popular designer drug ecstasy or MDMA, has often been referred to as “Molly.” However, as the manufacture of “Molly” evolved, it’s been documented that the drug has been adulterated and formed into a number of dangerous and potentially deadly analogues, the DEA stated.
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