By Silverio Rizo Llamas
SACRAMENTO, CA – Judge Helena R Gweon of the Sacramento County Superior Court this week ruled N*** must stand trial in early 2022 on two felony counts and one misdemeanor count for allegedly sexually assaulting his 13-year-old granddaughter.
The Vanguard will not disclose the name of the accused to protect the victim’s confidentiality.
N*** was charged on two felony counts and one misdemeanor count for sexually assaulting his granddaughter on three separate occasions in which he allegedly molested the victim and made inappropriate comments toward her.
N***’s defense seemed to argue that these events were either a result of the victim’s promiscuous nature or a failed parenting attempt on behalf of N***.
N*** was charged twice under Penal Code section 288 (a) for committing a “lewd or lascivious act with a child under 14” and once under Penal Code section 647.6(a) which “makes it a crime for a person to annoy or molest a child under the age of 18.”
Detective Lindsey Lamb, of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, stated the victim accused her grandfather of touching her “inappropriately while they were living (together) in an apartment complex” and making “inappropriate comments.”
The victim also accused her grandfather of touching her breast on a separate occasion, when she was staying at a friend’s house. According to Det. Lamb the victim was “13 years old” at the time of the first two cases of abuse and in the 8th grade.
Deputy District Attorney Quirina Orozco questioned Det. Lamb regarding the first incident, at the department complex, adding the victim accused her grandfather of slapping and grabbing her buttocks and saying “you have the nicest a** I’ve ever seen.”
DDA Orozco questioned Det. Lamb regarding the second incident, in which N*** allegedly grabbed the victim’s breasts. Det. Lamb explained that according to the victim she was waiting for her grandfather to pick her up from her friend’s house.
When she heard knocking at the door she went to open it. As she had just taken a shower she was only wearing a towel. She stated that the grandfather “bear hugged” her making her towel fall. The grandfather then allegedly proceeded to place and sustain his hand on one of her breasts.
According to Det. Lamb the victim had been staying at her friend’s house because she felt uncomfortable staying with her grandfather. Det. Lamb also stated that the grandfather admitted that it was possible that his granddaughter had asked if her “a** looked nice” and that he had replied by saying that “her a** did look nice.”
Det. Lamb testified that the grandfather claimed to have only touched the victim’s buttock when he tried to get her to leave her friend’s house.
N*** stated the victim was refusing to leave her friend’s house. He alleges that he might have touched her buttock as he tried to pick her up and walk her out. N*** was adamant that this would be the only time he would have touched her buttock.
DDA Orozco questioned Det. Lamb about any incident in which the grandfather referenced anything regarding touching the victim’s breasts.
Det. Lamb stated that the grandfather had admitted to having, in his own words, “slapped her tit” after becoming enraged because he believed that the victim had been inflicting self-harm.
The grandfather said he wanted to smack the victim’s breast until it hurt, in an attempt to get her to stop hurting herself.
Det. Lamb also testified that the grandfather said that “if (the victim) had asked if she had a good butt, he would say she had a great butt.” He also stated that “she had nice breasts.”
Assistant Public Defender Courtney Zane questioned Det. Lamb regarding the second incident in which the grandfather touched the victim’s breasts. According to the victim’s testimony she went to answer the door and her grandfather “hugged her and picked her up” and then “her toweling started falling.”
The victim stated that she was unsure whether the grandfather knew her towel was falling. He then touched her breast, backed up, and “immediately changed the subject.”
The defense appeared to be building an argument that the victim was sexually promiscuous. They referenced several sexually charged incidents involving the victim that the grandfather claimed had occurred.
APD Zane tried to question Det. Lamb regarding sexual conversations the victim had with her boyfriend. She argued that N*** was perhaps pursuing whatever “parenting method he might find appropriate” to get the victim’s promiscuous behavior to stop. However Judge Gweon upheld an objection from the prosecutor stating that it was irrelevant.
APD Zane returned to the incident in which the grandfather allegedly slapped the victim’s breast with the back of his hand “really hard” with the intention of hurting her. APD Zane stated that he yelled at her for cutting herself.
Superior Court Judge Gweon ruled that the offense is charged on all counts and found that there is “sufficient cause to believe that the grandfather is guilty.”
The grandfather was ordered to appear in court on Jan. 24, 2022, at 8:45 a.m. in Dept. 9 for trial.
