Two men charged with rape in New Paltz

On June 18, 2022 the New Paltz Police Department received a report of a sexual assault that occurred in the Village of New Paltz. Officers were able to locate the victim and arranged for medical assistance. Detectives responded to the scene and initiated an investigation. Based upon evidence collected, Michael Mazzurco, age 41 of Modena, was identified as a suspect in the case.

On February 16, 2023, after an approximately eight-month long investigation, the case was presented to an Ulster County Grand Jury which indicted Mazzurco on a charge of rape in the first degree. At approximately 7 p.m. that evening, members of the New Paltz Police Department, with the assistance of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, located Mazzurco at his residence where he was taken into custody.

He was transported to the New Paltz Police Department where he was processed and then remanded to Ulster County Jail to await arraignment in Ulster County Court.The New Paltz Police Department was assisted by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office and the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division.

On January 16, 2023 the New Paltz Police Department received a report of a sexual assault that occurred a day earlier at a hotel in the Town of New Paltz. Detectives responded to St. Luke’s hospital in Newburgh to interview the juvenile victim.

Detectives determined that Melvin Espinosa, age 38 of New Paltz, met the juvenile victim online and arranged for her to come to New Paltz. Through the investigation, detectives were able to determine that Espinosa allegedly sexually assaulted the 16-year-old victim in his hotel room in the Town of New Paltz.

On February 16, 2023, members of the New Paltz Police Department located Espinosa at his residence and placed him in custody. He was transported to the New Paltz Police Department for processing.

Espinosa was charged with one count of rape in the third degree, a felony, and two counts of a sexual act in the third degree, also a felony.

The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office was contacted for the arraignment. A bail recommendation of $200,000 bail or $400,000 bond was made. Espinosa was arraigned before New Paltz Town Justice Rhett Weires and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 bond.