Man who caused ‘incalculable’ trauma during Tacoma rape, robbery sentenced
A man who pleaded guilty to breaking into a couple’s house near Northeast Tacoma where he raped a woman in her 70s and robbed the couple of gold and diamond rings was sentenced Friday to 29 years to life in prison.
Jose Javier Barragan, 23, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary for the July 2023 attack. He also admitted to attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle for fleeing from sheriff’s deputies after they tracked the victims’ stolen phones to a residence near Parkland.
In a victim-impact statement filed with the court, the victims said they were awakened sometime after 5 a.m. by a person who jumped on their bed, pinned both of them down and held a gun to the man’s head. The man’s hands were tied with a belt, and after inquiring about a safe — which the couple didn’t have — the attacker forced the woman at gunpoint into an adjoining room, where she was raped twice.
“We believe that there’s enough evidence here that is cruel and deliberate and intentional [that this] monster should receive the maximum sentence,” the victims wrote in their statement, which did not identify them by name. The News Tribune generally does not name victims of sexual assault.
Deputy prosecuting attorneys Bryce Nelson and Robin Sand wrote in a sentencing memorandum that the facts of the case were “egregious” and that the level of physical and psychological trauma suffered by the victims was incalculable.
The punishment Pierce County Superior Court Judge Sabrina Ahrens imposed was at the high end of the standard sentencing range. Barragan will have to register as a sex offender for life. The defendant was given an indeterminate sentence, meaning he will have to serve at least 29 years, three months until he is eligible to petition the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board for release.
Barragan was a stranger to the couple, and he had no prior criminal convictions. According to a pre-sentence investigation report, the defendant was part of a gang in California at ages 17 and 18. He reported that he moved to Washington to separate himself from gangs.
The defendant reported being unemployed and homeless for a few months before the home invasion. He also reported being under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The community corrections officer who interviewed Barragan wrote in his pre-sentence investigation report that the defendant expressed remorse several times.
But the officer also said the victims’ trauma couldn’t be overlooked and that Barragan’s crimes were unprovoked and violent. Asked what he would say to the victims if he could address them, Barragan offered an apology.
“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. I pray for you every single day, for your recovery. I can’t believe I did this to you. I hope one day you can forgive me.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
