This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A trial date has been set for Utah Latino activist Tony Yapias, who is charged with sexually assaulting a woman last March after she had broken off their long-term relationship.
The three-day trial is set to begin Aug. 2 in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court.
Yapias, 50, whose full name is Adolpho Tony Yapias-Delgado, is charged with first-degree felony rape and class A misdemeanor evidence tampering.
He is the director of Proyecto Latino de Utah, which works on immigration and Hispanic issues. The Peruvian native was director of Utah's Hispanic Affairs Office and has had several Hispanic-affairs radio shows.
Charging documents allege that on March 21, 2016, Yapias went to the woman's South Salt Lake home — despite her admonition in multiple text messages that he stay away — to try to talk about her decision to break off their relationship, which had lasted about four years.
The woman initially refused to let Yapias into the home, court documents state, but he pushed his way through the door when she opened it to go outside.
The woman again told Yapias she had no interest in continuing their relationship and did not want to have sex.
"The defendant forced the issue and had sexual intercourse with the victim without her consent," charges state.
Yapias told investigators that he had sex with her, but he said the woman consented because she removed her clothes, charges state.
Yapias later grabbed the woman's cellphone and deleted their text-message exchange as the two discussed her reasons for being angry with him and ending their relationship. The conversation took place in Yapias' car just after the alleged rape, according to court documents. Yapias told investigators he had deleted the messages, police said.
In October, a judge reduced Yapias' bond from $250,000 to $100,000. Yapias had posted $250,000 and was freed on Sept. 13, a day after he was arrested on the charges.
Yaias said following a December court hearing, "I am innocent," and declared that he wanted the case to go to trial.
He was a one-time freelance correspondent for The Salt Lake Tribune.