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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hotel manager accused of raping employee

A man has been arrested for allegedly raping an employee while he was working as an assistant manager at a hotel near the Spokane airport.

Ivan Q. Ponce de Leon reportedly called the hotel at around 2 a.m. Feb. 13 to say that he was drunk and needed a ride and requested that a specific female employee come and pick him up in the hotel’s shuttle van, according to court documents.

The woman told police that after she gave Ponce de Leon a ride, he forcibly had sex with her in the van even though she tried to push him away and repeatedly told him to stop, according to court documents. She immediately reported the alleged assault to her co-workers and went to the hospital for a rape exam.

DNA recovered in the exam matches Ponce de Leon’s, according to court documents. Police also recovered several text messages sent to the employee by Ponce de Leon that asked if she was going to the police and stated that he had lost his job, court documents said. Ponce de Leon is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $12,000 bond.