An Oregon rape victim was placed in jail and held on an 'unattainable' amount of bail until she testified against her rapist, lawyer says.
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- An Oregon woman was jailed for nine days on $500,000 bail until she testified against the rapist, NBC reports.
- According to NBC, the woman was held as a "material witness" after concerns she would not testify.
- Her rapist was convicted a day after she testified.
A woman in Oregon was held in jail last week on bail set at an amount that her lawyer said was 'unattainable' until she testified against her rapist, NBC reports.
The 20-year woman was held in Jackson County jail for nine days from Sept. 6-15, with a bail set at $500,000 to ensure she would testify against her rapist, according to NBC.
According to the outlet, her lawyer Donald Scales said that the prosecutors asked that the victim be placed in jail as a "material witness" under a state law that allowed authorities to compel witnesses to who are least likely to appear in court to testify.
"They were not affirmatively recommending jail," Scales said, according to NBC. "They essentially were saying to the judge that they did not have any confidence in her making it to court and it would still be a struggle" for them to supervise her."
Scales called the material witness order a "last resort" and described the set bail as "unattainable," according to NBC.
"This was really a last resort balancing the needs of the victim and the needs of the community to have this case resolved," Scales told NBC.
Scales requested the court for a less restrictive measure which involved an ankle monitor and commitment from her mother and older sister to keeping an eye on her but was denied, according to NBC.
Neither Scales, nor the Jackson County District Attorney's Office responded to Insider's request for comment.
The woman's rapist, Christian Sanchez, 30, was convicted on Sept. 16, a day after the woman testified in court, according to NBC.
Sanchez was found guilty of rape, sodomy, kidnapping, assault, and unlawful use of a weapon, along with other crimes that occurred within a 7-month period in 2020, when the woman was 18, according to NBC.
According to court documents reviewed by the Associated Press, Sanchez held the woman against her will and used weapons, including a hammer, lighter, and a screwdriver, against the woman.
"It was a horrific situation," Prosecutor Nick Geil told the Medford Tribune.