An Atlantic City man is accused of raping his live-in girlfriend's young daughter and then making threats after he was captured on a hidden camera.
Oscar Gomez-Miralda, 42, was ordered held in jail Wednesday during a detention hearing.
The investigation was sparked after the mother set up a cell phone late last year in her daughter's bedroom to record what was happening, according to information released in court.
The mother started to have concerns after her daughter asked her not to leave her alone with the defendant, but would not say why. The couple had lived together for three years.
The video shows Gomez-Miralda entering the child's bedroom shortly after she wakes up, Assistant Prosecutor Tiffany deGrandmaison said, reading from the report.
It shows Gomez-Miralda lie down next to the little girl and cover her with a blanket and remove her pajama bottoms as she plays on an iPad.
What was described next indicates the little girl was raped.
He then pulls her pants back up, adjusts himself and leaves.
When the mother confronted Gomez-Miralda, he allegedly told her he could pay someone in Honduras to do something to her daughters if she reported him to police.
A few weeks before the woman spoke with detectives, he told her he would buy her a car if she got back together with him, deGrandmaison said.
She then blocked all communication.
The little girl was interviewed by a Spanish-speaking detective with the Prosecutor's Office and showed on a doll what Gomez-Miralda did to her, the prosecutor said.
Gomez-Miralda, who listened through a Spanish interpreter, did not speak at the hearing.
Attorney Mark Kargman asked that his client be released on the highest level of monitoring with home detention.
Kargman argued that Gomez-Miralda had a relatively low risk score under the public safety assessment and that he has strong ties to the county.
Gomez-Miralda has been gainfully employed for past five years in the food and beverage industry, and supports his two children, the attorney said.
He also has family in the area, including a brother in Pleasantville, who would make sure he comes to court.
But Judge Patricia Wild determined that the defense had not overcome the presumption of detention that is in place in such cases.
Gomez-Miralda faces a potential sentence of 25 years to life.
He will now remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
