Firefighter accused of sex assault makes bail, now back in jail

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This article was published 28/11/2017 (2881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg firefighter accused of sexually assaulting three females is back in jail after he allegedly tried to communicate with them after his arrest.

Manuel Ruiz, 52, has been charged with obstruction of justice and was arrested Nov. 24, about a month after he was first granted bail. He is accused of asking another man to “locate the victims and interfere with the course of justice,” court documents show.

The obstruction of justice offence is alleged to have happened Oct. 2, before Ruiz was released on bail Oct. 25.

He is set to appear in court later this week.

In September, the firefighter and martial arts instructor was charged with several offences stemming from his alleged abuse of two youths and an adult woman dating to 2001. The Winnipeg Police Service has said it believes some of the alleged crimes happened at Ruiz’s jiu-jitsu studio.

He’s charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation and other sexual offences, as well as forcible confinement, luring a child via telecommunication, providing liquor to a minor and drug possession.

As previously reported by the Free Press, court records show three different women sought court-ordered protection from Ruiz in 2001, 2006 and 2010. All three requests were denied by the court, including one made after the death of Ruiz’s 21-year-old girlfriend, Melissa Nelson. She died while on vacation with Ruiz in Cuba in 2006. Cuban authorities ruled her death accidental.

In divorce-related documents filed in court in 1985, Ruiz’s ex-wife accused him of beating her and subjecting her to “physical and mental cruelty,” starting within the first few months of their marriage.

She later dropped the divorce petition, and Ruiz joined the Winnipeg fire department and opened a jiu-jitsu studio, offering self-defence classes and doing contract work in various Manitoba communities. The couple separated in 2000, and their divorce was finalized in 2011.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay