No charges filed against Atwater man arrested in sexual assault case

Merced County prosecutors said no criminal charges will be filed against an Atwater man who was arrested in February on suspicion of rape.

“At this time, there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Rob Carroll, chief deputy Merced County district attorney.

Willie David Villagrana, 20, was arrested Feb. 25 by the Atwater Police Department on suspicion of raping a woman. He was released from custody two days later, according to jail records.

The alleged victim was described by police only as an adult woman whom Villagrana knew.

Prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of taking another look at the case in the future should any potential new evidence surface. “There is a three-year statute of limitations and any new evidence would be evaluated,” Carroll said.

Police said the alleged incident occurred some time between Feb. 1 and Feb. 3, but nothing was reported to police until Feb. 24. It remains unclear why the allegations were not reported sooner.

Officers said Villagrana was arrested after he was interviewed by detectives.

Atwater police Sgt. Dick Wisdom said he couldn’t discuss any specific evidence in the case.

“I can say our investigators did a thorough and complete investigation and it’s (the district attorney’s) decision whether there’s enough evidence to prosecute the case,” Wisdom said. “We respect their decision and, like any investigation, if we get new potential evidence, we’ll take a look at it at that time.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 8:15 PM with the headline "No charges filed against Atwater man arrested in sexual assault case."