Trial begins for former Fort Worth bar owner accused of raping passed-out customer

The trial for a former Fort Worth bar owner accused of sexually assaulting a woman began Monday.

Israel Espiricueta was an owner at The Library Bar. He is accused of raping a passed-out woman inside the business after hours in December 2017. The woman had passed out inside the downtown bar and the assault was caught on the bar’s surveillance cameras, police said.

Surveillance video showed Espiricueta positioning the apparently unconscious woman across the bar to have sex with her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Espiricueta has been free on bond in the Tarrant County case since his February 2018 arrest in Austin. In May, Espiricueta asked a judge to lift some of his bond conditions because he said they were preventing him from making a living.

A judge tightened Espiricueta’s bond conditions in September, requiring that the 42-year-old man wear a GPS monitor and stay out of bars and strip clubs — including his own bar unless it was after business hours. The special conditions were in place after social media posts alleged Espiricueta had been seen visiting Fort Worth bars.

He faces two to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 9:16 PM.