Police: Stock Island man rapes woman on his boat

A 44-year-old Key West man was jailed Tuesday night after police said he raped a woman on his boat last month while telling her to be grateful and “stop playing the victim.”

Miguel Pestano was arrested for felony sexual assault and his bond was set at $75,000.

At first he told police he didn’t know what they were talking about but then under questioning said he had sex with the woman but with her consent, according to the arrest report.

The alleged victim, who was not named in the arrest report, told the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that on Jan. 6 she was walking to Sunset Marina from the triangle intersection of Key West to find a place to crash for the night until she could take the bus home to Marathon the next day.

But she then met a stranger along the way who offered to let her sleep on his boat. The man, who she identified as Pestano, seemed “sweet,” she said, so she went with him.

Pestano took her to his boat, which is moored off the Key Haven boat ramp, by kayak, police said. But the kayak began filling with water and flipped over, forcing both of them to swim to the boat.

On the boat, the woman changed out of her wet clothes into some towels and went to sleep, only to be awakened by Pestano allegedly giving her oral sex against her will. Pestano then raped her, according to the arrest report.

That pattern of assault happened at least three times until dawn, the woman said. In the morning, Pestano reportedly went onto the deck and whistled, drawing an unidentified man in a dinghy who took the woman and Pestano back to shore.

Once on land, Pestano turned to the woman and smiled, saying she was welcome back anytime, police said.

The woman said she waited one day to report the assault because she was not emotionally prepared to talk about it.

Pestano told police he didn’t have to force himself on anyone because his girlfriend is really “hot,” deputies reported.

This story was originally published February 15, 2018 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Police: Stock Island man rapes woman on his boat."