A Lancaster County jury convicted a Manor Township man of threatening a woman at knifepoint while an 8-year-old child watched and then raping her following a four-day trial last week.
The jury found Efrain T. Mateo, 50, guilty on June 4 of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, burglary, aggravated indecent assault, simple assault, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, terroristic threats and possession of a firearm.
Mateo, 50, raped the victim at their formerly shared residence in the 3500 block of Blue Rock Road in October 2024.
During the trial a Pennsylvania State Police forensic scientist testified that fluids collected from the victim contained DNA that that was 82 quintillion times more likely to have come from Mateo than anyone else, a “very strong indicator” that he was the perpetrator.
Though Mateo had been evicted from the residence several months earlier after the victim had filed a Protection From Abuse order against him, he illegally entered the home while the victim slept and proceeded to restrain her arms using tape. Mateo then held a pocketknife to the victim’s throat and threatened to kill her if she screamed.
After sending the child out of the room Mateo proceeded to rape the victim.
Mateo had previously been charged with violating a Protection From Abuse order against the same victim on two separate occasions prior to the night of the burglary and rape. He pleaded guilty to those violations in October 2024.
The jury returned a guilty verdict after about three hours of deliberation.
Judge Jeffery Wright, who presided over the trial, is scheduled to sentence Mateo at a later date.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lapp prosecuted the case.
Manor Township Police Officer Colleen Tatara filed the charges.