By Ankita Joshi
ALAMEDA, CA – A man is on trial here in Alameda County Superior Court for continuous sexual abuse of a minor, rape, incest and use of force, as testimony continued Tuesday with the that of the alleged victim—his sister.
NOTE: The Vanguard will not identify the defendant or victim for confidentiality reasons.
Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Homer asked the victim to outline her relationship with the defendant, as well as all the details of the abuse she suffered over the years.
The victim said the abuse inflicted by the defendant began after her father had died, and her mother had entrusted the victim’s older brother to take her to her medical appointments and just be there for her generally. 
She recalled going to a motel to visit him and being physically assaulted to the point of her blacking out, and waking up without her clothes on, and with blood between her legs, in her hair, and on the bed sheets. The defendant was the only other person in the room.
Once she had woken up, she asked the defendant “why?” to which he responded, “If you tell anyone, it’ll break the family apart.” The victim noted that the defendant had also told her that no one would believe her if she told them what happened.
“I’m holding a secret I don’t want to hold,” stated the defendant when asked whether she called or told anyone after the initial assault.
She remembered that she went back to her own place after a while and showered, cried, and listened to music, and felt “ashamed, sad, confused, disgusted.” She also believed the defendant when he had told her that no one would believe her if she came forward with the truth.
At the time, the victim was grieving the loss of her father, was in high school, and was attending psychotherapy appointments to deal with mental health issues.
She had asked her mom to take her to her therapy appointments instead, but she couldn’t, so the defendant continued to drive the victim to and from her appointments. During these car rides, the victim said, other more inappropriate actions would happen, going into details for the court.
The victim noted that before the initial incident in the motel, she would feel uncomfortable by some of the defendant’s actions, but always excused them as the defendant trying to be a good elder brother.
And when asked if she felt like she had a choice, she responded by stating that she felt like she protected her mother from the truth about her making the biggest mistake of her life.
The prosecution continued with their line of questioning and presented photographs of the defendant’s previous apartment where the victim would spend time with him after her therapist appointments.
The victim noted that she had not been to the defendant’s apartment before her father passed. The first time she went over was after the initial assault at the motel.
During this time, the victim recalled that she never tried to resist, but she would try to remind the defendant that she was his sister and that she would never have children with him.
She also noted that she had boyfriends during this time period, and she would always introduce the defendant as her brother in an attempt to make the defendant back off. However, neither of those strategies worked.
When asked why she never tried to resist at the apartment, the victim stated that she “felt like if he’s using me, then he’s not going to abuse anyone else … his daughters, his nieces, his grandchildren.”
During the assaults at the apartment, the victim was aged between 16 and 17 years old.
After a while, the defendant moved to a house where the abuse continued.
It was noted that the defendant was aware of the mental health issues the victim struggled with, and helped her when she was hospitalized on three different occasions.
The victim recalled that the defendant would become involved in her treatment, and would try to help her stop taking the medications prescribed to her by her doctors.
During this time, the victim would go over to the house to spend time with other family members, such as her nieces, but ended up getting assaulted many more times.
She noted that the defendant had stated to her previously that “he only has daughters and [she] would be the one to give him a son.” And would insinuate that there was a possibility that they weren’t related.
However, at the house the victim would try to prevent the assaults by fighting. However, the defendant would always “overpower [her].”
This fighting escalated when the victim got the name of her father tattooed on her; the name that both the defendant and their deceased father shared.
The defendant continuously tried claiming that the tattoo was for him and a verbal argument broke out, but escalated when the victim punched the defendant in the face.
The victim recalled stating, “You are no longer my brother, you are dead to me,” before leaving and going to tell her mom.
When asked how many times over the years she and the defendant had sexual intercourse, the victim stated that she had lost count.
At this time, the victim was 21 years old.
On December 12, 2011, after talking to her sister, the defendant filed a police report against the defendant at the Oakland Police Department.
The trial is ongoing.
