Florida judge blames dance music festival for woman's rape

Former transit worker Carl Lee Wilt is accused of assaulting the unconscious woman in a utility closet

(Miami-Dade Corrections)

A judge has partly placed the blame for a woman's alleged rape not in the hands of her accused attacker, but the electronic dance music festival she attended before she was assaulted.

Florida judge Nushin Sayfie spoke at a hearing on Monday morning in which former Metromover transit worker Carl Lee Wilt was accused of raping a female tourist from Brazil until she soiled herself.

The 22-year-old woman had been to the Ultra Music Festival before attempting to board a Metromover train at around 9.30pm on Saturday.

But she was stopped from getting on to the train "for her own safety", according to a police report.

She was then taken into a first-floor utility room at Park West station and assaulted, WPLG-TV reported.

The Miami-Dade judge was caught on courtroom video remarking during the hearing: “This is why we shouldn’t let our kids go to Ultra — right here,” as she examined a court filing.

She ordered Wilt, who faces charges of kidnapping and sexual battery on a person who was physically incapacitated, to be held without bond.

Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police, said that a witness had alerted officers that a transit supervisor had carried the woman into the utility room at the station, and police then found Wilt alone with the "unconscious" woman.

“If, in fact, they wouldn’t have said something, God knows if this individual would have gotten away with this,” Mr Zabaleta said.

Officers knocked on the utility room door, but they said Wilt, who is 6ft 8 and weighs 260 lbs, waited five minutes before opening the door with his trousers and zip pulled down.

Police said he admitted to having sex with the woman but stopped when she defecated on herself. He admitted he knew she was too intoxicated to operate a vehicle or make rational decisions.

The victim told detectives later that she did not know how she had met Wilt and could not recall any details of what happened.

The judge was said to have heard this evidence before she made her remarks.

Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works Director Alice Bravo said in a statement. “We expect all employees to serve our residents and visitors with professionalism and respect.”

A local representative told Local 10 News that Wilt, who has worked for the Department since 2003, has been relieved of his duties without pay.