Pearl River Man Charged in Rape of Girl Over Five-Year Period

A 38-year-old Pearl River man who attacked a woman in downtown Pearl River in 2008 has been arrested on rape charges and accused of having a five-year-long sexual relationship with a girl that started when she was 10 years old, according to Orangetown police.

Hector Manuel Bonilla was arrested Friday night and is being held in the Rockland County Correctional Facility in New City without bail pending an Orangetown Town Court hearing.

Police said an investigation revealed Bonilla has been having sexual intercourse with the victim for the past five years.

Bonilla is accused of:

- 55 counts of Rape in the second degree (class D felonies)

-  1 count of Course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree (class B felony)

- 1 count of predatory sexual assault against a child (class A-II felony)

- 5 counts of Rape in the third degree (class E felonies).

Police would not detail the relationship between the victim and Bonilla, other than indicating she was known to Bonilla.

Orangetown police know of Bonilla from an incident on Sept. 23, 2008, when Bonilla approached a woman on North Main Street in Pearl River after she had just gotten off a NJ Transit train at the Pearl River station. Bonilla put the woman in a headlock, told her he had a knife and attempted to drag her into Borst Park.

The victim was able to fight Bonilla off, and Bonilla was arrested two days later. Bonilla pleaded guilty to attempted assault on Jan. 18, 2011, and was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail and a $250 fine.