C-Viche, Kompali restaurant co-owner appears in court on sexual assault, rape charges
A Milwaukee restaurateur has been charged with sexual assault and rape.
Karlos Soriano-Cabrera, the co-owner of C-Viche in Bay View, was charged with four counts of third-degree sexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault. He faces more than 40 years in prison if found guilty.
A fifth victim came forward after charges against him were made public in the last week, according to Assistant District Attorney Jack Eichorst. He said a fifth count was filed on Wednesday.
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Soriano-Cabrera is a partner of the Peruvian-influenced restaurant C-Viche in Bay View. A second location opened in Shorewood in November. Soriano is also behind Kompali, a Brady Street taqueria, that also has a location in 3rd Street Market Hall downtown.
He was in court on Wednesday for his initial appearance, but did not speak. The state requested his bail be set at $150,000, but Judge Jean Kies instead set it at $25,000. He was handcuffed and processed at the conclusion of the hearing.
Soriano-Cabrera's attorney, Roberto Ledesma, said he expected the bail to likely be paid right away.
The criminal complaint describes five incidents with five victims, four of whom were employees.
The most recent charge includes two victims on the same night at the Bay View restaurant. Soriano-Cabrera reportedly approached and sexually assaulted one victim and assaulted and raped another in a span of two hours between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Sept. 25.
Two other rapes were reported by two other women from 2017. One instance allegedly involved Soriano-Cabrera and a victim having a drink together.
The victim woke up the next day with symptoms consistent with being drugged, according to the criminal complaint. A sexual assault examination was conducted and DNA matching Soriano-Cabrera was found, the complaint said.
Another victim reported multiple assaults by Soriano-Cabrera between 2016 and 2017.
Ledesma said his client turned himself in to police in September 2022 and posted $15,000 bail at the time. That credit was applied that toward his new bail.
Soriano-Cabrera is scheduled to return to court on April 24 for a preliminary hearing.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: C-Viche, Kompali restaurant co-owner charged with sexual assault, rape
