State Rep. Carlos Henriquez appears in court during his arraignment in 2012 on assault charges.
Credit: Boston Herald/Pool photo
Dorchester state Rep. Carlos Henriquez was found guilty on Wednesday of assault and battery on a woman during an incident in 2012.
A jury of six men and women convicted Henriquez on two counts of assault and battery, but acquitted him on three other charges, including one count of assault and battery to the face.He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, but will only have to serve six months with the remainder suspended.
Henriquez, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, stood quietly as the foreman read the verdict in Cambridge District Court on Wednesday.
At the time of his arrest, authorities said Henriquez had picked up the woman, Katherine Gonzalves, then a 23-year-old UMass Boston student, at her mother’s Arlington home about 2 a.m. He hit her and then held her down, authorities said. He said he wanted to talk about their friendship, Gonzalves told police, according to a police report.
Gonzalves told police she and Henriquez previously had an “intimate relationship.”
Authorities alleged that Henriquez drove Gonzalves around in a Zip Car, and she eventually jumped out of the car in the Fenway area about 4:30 a.m. and found a police officer.
Gonzalves spoke out shortly after the incident in an attempt to defend her credibility.
Following the ruling, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh encouraged Henriquez to resign, saying it was “in the best interests of the constituents he represents.”
“Violence against women is an epidemic, and is totally and universally unacceptable. This case shines a spotlight on something that plagues our nation every single day. Nearly one quarter of women in this country have experienced violence; Boston is no exception to these startling facts.”
The State House News Service contributed to this report.
