Beaufort man convicted of rape after admitting to crime in polygraph exam room
A Beaufort man was sent to prison for raping an acquaintance at his home in late 2023. He admitted the crime to police just before his lie detector test was set to begin.
Jacinto De La Cruz Gomez, 19, received a partially suspended sentence of 18 months after he pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct. The felony offense carries a maximum of 10 years in prison under state law.
The father of the female victim reported the rape to police in July 2024, about 5 months after it happened at Gomez’s residence near the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. He told deputies his daughter was now pregnant, according to a police report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Gomez met with police to take a polygraph test about a month later, initially claiming the three instances of sex were consensual. However, he admitted to raping the victim during the pretest interview, the report says.
Police arrested Gomez immediately after. He was held in the Beaufort County Detention Center on a $125,000 cash bond until his trial in May, court records show.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen handed down the sentence May 6 in the Beaufort County Courthouse.
Gomez would receive credit for about 250 days already served in the Beaufort County jail, bringing his sentence to around 9.5 months. He could serve the full 10-year sentence if he violated court conditions.
As of Wednesday, Gomez did not appear in South Carolina’s public sex offender registry, whose criteria includes anyone who is convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
