Bloomington resident Alexandre Buitendorp, 22, has pleaded not guilty on preliminary charges related to an alleged rape that occurred in March.
Buitendorp appeared in court for an initial hearing on Thursday afternoon in front of Bloomington lawyer Joe Lozano, who was filling in for Judge Teresa Harper. He indicated that he wanted a public defender appointed to him and stated under oath that he was a manager at a McDonald's and didn’t make more than $1,400 in a single month.
The Bloomington Police Department arrested Buitendorp on Tuesday. According to the probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday, investigators identified him with the help of the woman who had reported the assault, which occurred after the two had been drinking at Kilroy’s Sports Bar.
The defendant had a probation hold from Elkhart County, which prevents the jail from releasing him without proper approval from authorities in the other jurisdiction. He had five supporters in the audience during the hearing, which did not last more than a few minutes. One of those supporters raised his hand to ask Lozano how they could go about securing Buitendorp’s bond.
The woman told police she began speaking to the man, who was not her friend, after her friends had left the bar. From there, she said that her memory became hazy and that she told police she remembered waking up in the passenger seat of a vehicle with Buitendorp assaulting her with his hand, and then passing out again. She said she remembered waking up again at her own residence without clothing.
The woman told police the date rape drug GHB was found in her system through a toxicology report. She said she does not use illegal drugs.
Buitendorp agreed to an interview with detectives when they contacted him at the time.
He initially told police he walked with the woman to her house, but then he admitted he was lying and said he had driven the car with her inside. He said he and the woman had kissed outside his car and engaged in sexual acts inside the car.
A detective requested a DNA swab, and he complied, saying that everything that occurred during the night in question was consensual and that he was 100 percent certain he did not have sexual intercourse with the woman.
On Aug. 11, the detective received the results of the DNA analysis from a rape kit conducted at Bloomington Hospital on March 26. The sample provided by Buitendorp matched the DNA profile of sperm found during the rape kit, according to the affidavit, indicating that he misled police when he was questioned.
Buitendorp has also been charged with multiple counts related to his use of the woman’s cellphone on the night in question. He told police he had lost his phone and was using the woman’s phone to locate it.
He allegedly communicated with the woman’s friends to determine the location of her house after having left to find his phone. The woman’s cellphone was returned to a male friend. Buitendorp had assured police he only took the woman’s phone in order to locate his own, which he said he found on the street.
Police found probable cause to arrest him given that the woman’s inebriation prevented her from consenting to any sexual activity.
Buitendorp has a bail review hearing scheduled for Sept. 19 and a pretrial conference scheduled for Nov. 6.
