photo by: Kansas Department Of Corrections

Isaias Esai Rojo in January of 2021.

Charges against a Lawrence man accused of raping two women were dropped Wednesday by the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office just days before the man’s trial was set to take place.

Isaias Esai Rojo, 26, was facing two felony counts of rape in Douglas County District Court, according to charging documents. His original charges stated that the incident occurred on July 6, 2020, but an amended complaint filed in August 2022 said that the incident occurred on June 18, 2020. Both complaints allege that he raped two women who were ages 18 and 19 when they were not in a mental state to consent.

A motion to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled, was filed Wednesday by Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal. The motion cited insufficient evidence as the reason for dismissal. The case was scheduled to go to trial on Monday.

This is the third recent case to be dismissed against Rojo. Charges against him for burglary and theft of a firearm were dismissed in September 2022 by Judge Sally Pokorny after the victim did not appear at the preliminary hearing, and another burglary charge was dismissed in August 2021, by Judge James McCabria after he did not find probable cause to order Rojo to stand trial.

Rojo was convicted in Douglas County District Court in May 2018 for felony burglary and was sentenced to 16 months in prison by Pokorny, according to court records.