SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Nearly two decades after a brutal assault, justice was finally served to a survivor whose life was permanently altered by the actions of two men. Frank Benavidez and Jose Pina-Cruz were each sentenced to two consecutive 15-year terms for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl in 2006. The sentencing, handed down on April 1st, provided long-awaited closure for the victim, who had waited for years for the justice she deserved.
Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills, who presided over the case, described the crime as “heinous,” adding that it was “really what nightmares are made of” before issuing the maximum sentence. The survivor, whose identity has been protected, was present in court and addressed her attackers directly, expressing the lasting impact the assault had on her life.
“The night you both crossed paths with me, you didn’t just assault me — you scarred me for life,” she said, her words carrying the weight of years of trauma.
The survivor’s emotional statement was followed by a moment of relief. “I felt so much release, I was so happy, I had a big smile on my face,” she later said. “I was like, ‘Finally, justice.’”
Despite the brutal nature of the crime, it took years for authorities to connect the DNA evidence to the perpetrators. In 2007, one year after the assault, Pina-Cruz’s DNA was entered into the system due to his conviction in a separate murder case. However, Utah’s lack of a coordinated tracking system meant that the connection to the assault was never made at that time.
The breakthrough didn’t come until 2018, when the survivor responded to an outreach effort from the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), a program designed to help law enforcement follow up on unsolved cases using DNA evidence. It was then that the DNA from the assault was finally linked to Benavidez and Pina-Cruz.
In a heartbreaking revelation, the survivor learned that her rape kit had been destroyed, a development that compounded her sense of betrayal. “It’s troubling, it’s disgusting that it took this amount of time,” she said. “Not only that, but I also learned that my rape kit was actually destroyed.”
Derek Coats, a representative from the Utah Department of Corrections, acknowledged the failures of the past and attributed them to a lack of coordination between agencies. “There was, I would say, an admitted lack of understanding between disciplines at that time,” he said. “A lot of this is going to fall back onto what the policies were during that time.”
Since 2015, Utah has implemented changes, including the requirement for rape kit tracking and the introduction of the SAKI program to improve investigations and ensure better follow-through in sexual assault cases. “We as law enforcement, we haven’t done things right in the past,” Coats said. “We do recognize that, and we’re trying to do things right today.”
Despite the long delay in justice, the survivor remains candid about the emotional toll the experience has taken on her. When asked if healing was possible after all these years, she expressed doubt. “Absolutely not. I am not healed. I don’t think I will ever be healed. It’s something so traumatic, something someone should never have to go through,” she said.
In addition to the sentencing for the sexual assault, Benavidez and Pina-Cruz are also serving time for separate murder convictions. Their long criminal histories underscore the importance of proper coordination and timely investigations.
For other survivors seeking justice, there is now a system in place for checking the status of rape kits. Information on how to access this system is available through local law enforcement agencies, ensuring that future victims won’t have to endure the same delays the survivor in this case faced.
The resolution of this case marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the survivor, who now finds solace in the knowledge that her attackers will never be free again.