Detective: Teen confessed to sex assault

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The 16-year-old accused of repeatedly raping a Grand Valley State University student has confessed to the crime, though he said he intended at first to just rob her, police said in a court affidavit.

Felipe Lopez-Velasquez was arraigned Tuesday on three counts of first-degree sexual assault and a charge of unarmed robbery in the Sept. 10 sexual assault, which happened in the area of Valley Avenue and West Fulton Street.

He is being charged as an adult and could face up to life in prison.

He was ordered held at the Kent County Jail on a $200,000 bond.

His alleged accomplice, 14-year-old Marco Vazquez, is being charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault and unarmed robbery.

Though he will be treated as an adult, his cases will be handled through the Family Division of Circuit Court, prosecutors said.

If convicted, and if he stays out of trouble, he could be released at age 21.

In a sworn affidavit, a Grand Rapids detective said that a composite sketch led to tips that identified Lopez-Velasquez. He said that the 21-year-old victim and a witness picked him out of a police line-up.

Then, the detective said, Lopez-Velasquez confessed.

The affidavit did not address the allegations against the 14-year-old.

Both teens had been in trouble before, both involving weapons. The 14-year-old was given a 6 p.m. curfew, while the 16-year-old could leave home only with a parent, according to court officials.

Instead of placing them on electronic tethers, which was an option, court surveillance officers were checking on them randomly, said Doug Gaddy of juvenile court.

He said the two had followed the surveillance rules until that night.

Surveillance officers checked on them at school that day -- the 16-year-old at Union High School; the 14-year-old at nearby Westwood Middle School -- and both were there, Gaddy said.

However, surveillance officers checked on them twice each that evening at their southwest side homes -- the last time after 8 p.m., Gaddy said. They were gone both times, he said.

The attack was reported about 9 p.m., about a mile from the suspects' schools.

Gaddy said surveillance officers found the teens the next day -- before they had been identified as suspects in the rape -- and gave them consequences. Instead of having a 6 p.m. curfew, the 14-year-old was ordered to stay home, unless at school, Gaddy said.

The 16-year-old was told he could no longer leave home, even with a parent, unless he was in school.