by Anita Woo
Throughout the preliminary hearing, three police officers testified against Margarito Alvarez, accused of sexual molestation. The defendant periodically shook his head but it was unclear if that was from denial or regret.
The first to testify was Winters Police Department Detective Dave Gonzalez. He recounted “the victim,” during a hospital trip to see her mother who had heart conditions, describing being subjected to sexual molestation.
In mid-December of 2017, the 10-year-old victim was sleeping in a crowded room with her family and her mother’s visiting friend, Margarito Alvarez. That night, Mr. Alvarez complained that the floor was uncomfortable. Soon after, he apparently crawled into the victim’s bed.
He allegedly touched her buttocks and began rubbing her lower back. Uncomfortable with the stranger, she shifted away but felt him tugging her underwear beneath her buttocks. She ran from the room and hid in the bathroom.
When the victim came back to the room, she saw he was in her bed, so she clenched a blanket between her and Mr. Alvarez for separation. The victim never told her mother what happened that night, in fear that her “heart conditions will deteriorate.” In return, the defendant helped pay her mother’s bills and gave her gifts, like a new cellphone.
The second witness was Corporal Gordon Brown. The officer knew there were complaints of sexual molestation against Mr. Alvarez but nothing could be done as he was deported to Mexico. When he heard Alvarez was back in town, Corporal Brown reactivated the case, and interviewed Alvarez’s nieces, “BM” and “FA.”
During interviews between January and March of 2018, 15-year-old BM recalled two main instances of sexual molestation, from when she was six years old. In the first instance, BM admitted her whole family would sleep with 
Alvarez when he visited with his family. However, one night she woke up to find her uncle “attempting to unbutton her pants.” In the second instance, she saw her uncle in the living room with his pants down; he grabbed her and tried to put her hands on his penis. She also claimed he often tried to kiss her lips or touch her vagina.
Thirteen-year-old FA described suffering similar sexual molestation from her uncle when she was six years old, such as massaging her lower back or touching her genitals. Vividly she recalled that Mr. Alvarez once came out of the bathroom rubbing his penis when she was seven.
On cross-examination, the defense attorney pointed out that FA was unsure whether Mr. Alvarez was rubbing or scratching his genital area. Officer Brown acknowledged the ambiguity.
The final witness was Corporal Jeremy Warren. On October 11, 2011, he received a call from FA’s mother that her six-year-old daughter was touched inappropriately. The incident occurred during a couple of days when FA was playing video games with her uncle and he reached underneath her skirt to touch her butt over her panties.
Although she reported her uncle’s touching that time, FA admitted she had had similar massages from him in the past. Her uncle had also shown her his penis and said “this is what boys have” and “this is how we do sex.”
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