SANTA BARBARA, Calif- Police have arrested a man for raping a woman after they met up at a lounge in downtown. The victim told police she found out she was raped after she became pregnant and had an abortion.
The victim told police that she met up with Michael Joseph Holden after she was stood up by a friend. Upset, the victim wanted to vent to a friend. She told police that she knew Holden lived close by so she texted him and they agreed to meet at a bar.
After leaving the bar the pair walked to Holden's apartment. The victim told police that she only remembers a couple of things after they got to the apartment.
According to police she "recalled using the restroom, followed next by the memory of waking at some point in the night in Holden's bed. The victim was clothed, but unsure as to why she had been lying on the bed. She informed Holden that she had a headache, at which time he provided her with a pill that he said was headache medication and a beverage. The victim took the pill. Her next memory was of waking at around noon the following day, partially clothed on Holden's bed."
The victim says she confronted Holden but he denied having sex with her.
One month after the incident the victim was not feeling well so she went to the doctor and discovered that she was pregnant.
Police say that the victim called police to report the incident and later went to a medical facility in Ventura County to have her pregnancy terminated.
Detectives from the Santa Barbara Police Department recovered the fetus so the Department of Justice Crime Lab could test for DNA. Detectives were able to get a Holden's DNA to compare to the fetus when he showed up to meet with his probation officer in February.
Police say within days of the meeting with his probation officer Holden fled to Mexico.
In June the results of the DNA testing came back and proved that Holden was the biological father and a warrant was issued for Holden's arrest.
Holden came back to the United States at the beginning of July and was arrested in Palo Alto Sunday. He is currently booked in the Santa Clara County jail and will be transported back to Santa Barbara sometime Thursday.
