Rapist Sentenced to 60 Years for Jogger Attack on Silver Spring Trail

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A Hyattsville man who pleaded guilty to raping a woman at knifepoint while she was jogging along the Northwest Branch Trail last year in Silver Spring has been ordered to spend 60 years in prison.

Joaquin A. Orellana Torres, 25, of Hughes Road in Hyattsville, was sentenced to 30 years plus 30 years consecutive, WTOP reports. Torres in March pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of first-degree sex-offense.

“Sixty years is a long time to think about the pain, suffering and mental anguish he wrought upon a victim who was jogging along a path minding her own business. This defendant robbed her of her peace of mind and this is the price he will have to pay,” John McCarthy, Montgomery County State’s Attorney, said in a news release.

Police were called May 5, 2014, to the site of an attack that had occurred in park land adjacent to Oakview Drive in Silver Spring. The victim, a woman in her 20s, said she had been running on a trail in the Northwest Branch area when she was approached by the suspect, who was armed with a knife. The suspect forced her off the trail, raped her, and fled.

Following the attack, investigators from the Montgomery County Police Department and the Maryland-National Capital Park Police Department worked together to search for the suspect.

In an area off the marked trail, they saw a backpack that matched the description the victim said the suspect had with him during the crime. As officers approached the site, they reportedly saw a man who matched the suspect description. Police said he was also wearing a beaded necklace that matched the description the victim had given.

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