RICHMOND — A Bay Area man is due in court next month facing charges that he molested a young child, crimes that authorities say were discovered after the victim was treated for a sexually transmitted disease.
Jose Trinidad Juarez, 51, of Concord, faces five counts of forcible lewd act upon a child, and four other counts alleging specific sexual acts against the victim, court records show. He is next due in court June 3, where he is scheduled to either enter a no-contest plea to some of the charges or set a date for a jury trial, prosecutors said.
Juarez was arrested in connection with an investigation that started in March 2021, when the alleged victim was treated for a sexually transmitted disease. This news organization is not listing the victim’s gender, city of residence, or how Juarez knew the alleged victim, to protect confidentiality.
The alleged victim was interviewed by police and described multiple acts of child molestation that occurred over a two-year period, starting when the victim was 7 years old, according to police. Authorities also interviewed a teenager who had contact with Juarez and described waking up one night to find Juarez was in her bedroom, watching her sleep, according to court records.
Authorities set up a pretext call between the alleged victim’s mother and Juarez, in which she confronted him about the STD. Juarez allegedly stated that he reached over the alleged victim’s stomach to grab a remote control and that the infection must have occurred that way, then admitted he wouldn’t believe that claim if someone else was making it. He started “crying hysterically” and said he was “done” and “finished” when the mother pressed him further, police said in court records.
Juarez was arrested in 2021 and reportedly told police that he molested the alleged victim three times while he was drunk and discombobulated, but that he stopped each time after realizing the victim wasn’t an adult, according to court records.
Juarez remains in county jail in lieu of $6 million bail.
Source: www.mercurynews.com