New Mexico jiu-jitsu instructor, MMA veteran Rafael Freitas jailed on rape charges

Eight-time MMA veteran and Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu New Mexico head instructor Rafael “Barata” Freitas has been jailed on charges of “criminal sexual penetration,” according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Freitas’ arrest stems from an alleged Nov. 7 incident in which Freitas is “accused of drugging and raping a client.” According to a criminal complaint obtained by the newspaper, “the female client captured the alleged assault on a security camera in her living room.”

Freitas was in the corner of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm in her October win over Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN 16 in Abu Dhabi and, according to the newspaper, was previously listed as an instructor on the Jackson Wink MMA official website. However, any such reference has since been removed, and a spokesman for the gym denied any association with Freitas.

“All I’ve been told is he is not an employee of Jackson Wink Academy and he never has been,” gym spokesman James Hallinan told the Journal.

The initial report includes graphic details of the alleged assault:

On Nov. 17, a woman reported the rape to a detective and said it happened at her home during a Nov. 7 session with the trainer. She said she had been taking lessons from Freitas for several years and on that day was having him massage her legs due to recent cramping.

The woman said that Freitas is flirtatious with her and several other women he trains, that she “at times found his behavior inappropriate” and that there was never any romantic relationship between the two.

The woman told police she drank half a glass of wine and then ate breakfast and drank orange juice with Freitas before the session. She said she went to the bathroom and came out to find Freitas had prepared her a second glass of orange juice.

The woman told police she added a shot of whiskey and ginger ale to the drink and about 30 minutes later began ‘feeling sleepy’ as Freitas massaged her legs. She said that she ‘quickly passed out’ and awoke hours later, naked from the waist down, and that Freitas was gone.

According to the report, detectives observing the security tape saw Freitas “‘possibly’ drop something into the woman’s orange juice while she was in the bathroom, as his hand makes a ‘flicking’ motion over the glass.”

Afterward, detectives allege Freitas removed the woman’s shorts and appeared to “force oral sex on her while she is passed out,” then later rubbing her hand on his genitals. According to the report, detectives stated the woman then “stayed motionless on the couch for 50 minutes before sitting up.”

A noted grappler and credited inventor of the shoulder lock known as the “Baratoplata,” Freitas is a multiple-time medalist in both World and Pan American championships. He also fought twice under the Legacy FC banner, suffering a 2014 loss to current UFC flyweight Jordan Espinosa and battling to a 2013 draw with UFC and WEC veteran Antonio Banuelos.