Man faces rape charge in Boardman

BOARDMAN — A New Jersey man is charged with rape and domestic violence, accused of assaulting a woman he knows from out of state.

Oscar Ponce, 35, was lodged in the Mahoning County Jail.

Police were called shortly after midnight Tuesday by a woman from New York who had received a text message from the victim. The victim told police that Ponce arrived at her Beech Avenue home and stayed there. She was communicating with a man on the Internet when Ponce became angry, removed her clothes, hit and smothered her and then forced her to have sex against her will, the police report said.

Police arrested Ponce who is scheduled to appear today in Mahoning County Court.