Rigoberto Baez

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A 23-year-old construction worker, who authorities believe broke into a woman’s East Naples home in April, is now facing additional charges of voyeurism after investigators say he stalked the woman for nearly a month and peeped through her bedroom window on several occasions.

Rigoberto Baez, of 3613 Poplar Way, Unit B, East Naples, was arrested in May on burglary charges after Collier County sheriff’s deputies, who staked out the woman’s home, witnessed him enter the lanai and look through a bedroom window. The zipper to Baez’s pants was open at the time of his arrest, and his genitals were hanging out, reports said.

In late June, the State Attorney’s Office added two counts of voyeurism to his three burglary charges.

“What we do, what our big job to do is, to look at the file, compare it to the crime, and see what charges are appropriate for the crime,” State Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Samantha Syoen said. “Very often the charges that someone is arrested on are not the same charges that we file.”

On April 24, a woman, whose name is not being released due to the sexual nature of the crime, called the Sheriff’s Office to report that a man had broken into her home on Mustang Island Circle, which abuts the Mustang golf course at Lely Resort.

She told deputies that after her teenage daughter returned home around 10 p.m., she went into her bedroom and fell asleep, incident reports said. After showering, the teen went to say goodnight to her mother, and instead found a man leaving the bedroom.

The man, described as about 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches with a shaved head and medium build, said “hi,” and then ran out the back sliding doors and left through the lanai, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Two nights later deputies again responded to the home after the woman reported someone rattling her screen lanai door.

Deputies found that the screen next to the door had been sliced, and the door was slightly open, reports said. The woman told deputies that she clearly remembered locking the door, and hit the handle three times to make sure it was locked.

On May 12, the woman awoke and found a fluid on her bedroom window, reports said. Tests revealed the fluid was semen containing human DNA.

Neighbors, who declined to be interviewed for this story, said news of the encounters spread quickly throughout the neighborhood.

“After the first incident, they gave her all kinds of ... security-type information,” Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Karie Partington said. “As it happened again and it began to become a pattern, they started doing surveillance.”

Around 9:45 p.m. on May 17, deputies staking out the woman’s home watched as a man, later identified as Baez, walked around back, entered the screen lanai and looked into the master bedroom window, incident reports said. As he attempted to open the sliding back door of the home, deputies entered the lanai and ordered Baez to the ground.

Deputies took Baez to the ground as he attempted to flee the lanai, authorities said. After struggling with and handcuffing Baez, deputies helped him off the ground and found that his pants zipper was down and his genitals were hanging out.

The woman told authorities that she did not know Baez, who matched the description given by her daughter weeks earlier. Authorities are having the semen found on the window analyzed for DNA to see if it matches Baez’s DNA.

It is unclear why Baez appears to have targeted the woman, Partington said.

“No, we don’t know how that happened,” Partington said. “It’s rare for that to happen, especially against a stranger.”

When reached at the address listed on Baez’s arrest report, his mother-in-law, Silvia Ramirez, said through a translator that Baez told his family he was at a party in the Mustang Island neighborhood the night of his arrest. He told his family he was intoxicated and was simply urinating behind the woman’s home when he was arrested, she said.

Bob Lee, president of the Mustang Island Board of Directors, declined to comment on the case. He said he was concerned that the case could scare off potential residents and could make it more difficult for people selling homes in the neighborhood.

“The board did take it seriously,” Lee said. “The board did notify the community that this happened, and notified the community when he was arrested.”

Baez, who is originally from Mexico, is being held in the Collier County jail on $20,000 bond, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a hold on him.

Baez’s family — including his wife and 6-year-old daughter — is struggling to pay rent without his income, Ramirez said through the translator.