On November 21, 18-year-old Daniel Enrique Fabian of New Port Richey, Florida was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious battery for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. The sexual assault reportedly took place while Fabian was playingGrand Theft Auto 5’sonline mode, and was even overheard by the person he was playing the game with.
According to court documents, Fabian was playingGrand Theft Auto 5on PS4 when he told whoever he was playing with that that he was going to have sex with a girl at his home. Fabian left the game on, but stopped actively playing for 15 minutes to commit the sexual assault. The person he was playing with, who has not been publicly identified, says that he heard the 15-year-old victim say “No.” When he was finished, Fabian reportedly resumed playing the game.
The victim claims that she told Fabian to stop four times, which is seemingly corroborated by the unidentified online witness. Furthermore, Fabian’s DNA was also successfully collected from the victim. It’s worth noting that the age of consent in Florida is 18, so Fabian would be committing a crime even if the victim hadn’t said no. Fabian has been held in jail since his arraignment on November 22.
This is a rather unique situation, and could very well be the first time that someone is a credible witness to sexual assault through online gaming chat.
ThePlayStation Networkwitness corroborating the victim’s story and the fact that Fabian’s DNA has been collected from the victim both seem like pretty damning pieces of evidence. Fabian’s fate has yet to be determined, but things aren’t looking good for him. He potentially committed a sexual assault against a minor, and could be facing serious prison time as well as a place on the sex offender registry. His decision to resume playing video games after committing the sexual assault is something some people may also find disturbing, and certainly won’t do him any favors in court.
