Crime & Safety

Girl Testifies Against Man Accused of Aliso Molestation

A 12-year-old girl tells a jury a healthcare center employee molested her in the waiting room while visiting her great grandfather. He is also accused of attacking a girl in Aliso Viejo.

A 12-year-old girl testified Wednesday that an employee at a healthcare center in Laguna Woods molested her while she was there to visit her great grandfather.

German Bravo DeJesus, 34, of Lake Forest is on trial on charges of molesting 6- and 7-year-old girls on separate occasions in 2009 and 2011. The 2011 incident involved a 6-year-old girl playing near her father at an Aliso Viejo park.

DeJesus' attorney told jurors in her opening statement that authorities arrested the wrong person.

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The 12-year-old girl, who was allegedly molested on Jan. 17, 2009, testified she was in a play room with her 4-year-old cousin while her grandmother and uncle were visiting her great-grandfather, who was recuperating after surgery at Palm Terrace Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Laguna Woods.

A man wearing a green "uniform" shirt came in and began talking to her, she testified.

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She testified that he "touched" her "in my private parts" a few times.

"I think it was more (than once)," she testified. "Three or two times."

The girl also testified that he had a tattoo on his arm.

The girl did not see her great-grandfather during the trip because she was "a little scared" to see him after surgery, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker told jurors. So she was led to the play room, where her uncle bought Cheetos from a vending machine for her to snack on while she kept her cousin company, Walker added.

The girl did not tell her grandmother or uncle what happened, but as soon as she got home she told her mother, the alleged victim and her mother testified.

The girl's mother testified that her daughter told her she was touched on the leg.

The uncle brought the girl back to the center that same day "to figure out who did it," and the only person who matched the description was DeJesus, Walker alleged.

Investigators did not have enough evidence to proceed with a case against DeJesus at the time, Walker said.

A 6-year-old girl went to Grand Park in Aliso Viejo on July 8, 2011, with her family to watch a movie, Walker said.

DeJesus worked at a nearby car wash at the time, Walker said.

The then-6-year-old girl was playing with her cousin at the park when DeJesus allegedly approached her and, "Asked her name, told her she was pretty and put his hands down her pants," Walker alleged.

The girl told her father, who chased after DeJesus while on the line with a 911 operator, Walker said. An Orange County sheriff's deputy arrested DeJesus a short time later in the area riding his bicycle away from the park, Walker said.

The girl identified DeJesus as the man who molested her, Walker said.

DeJesus made incriminating statements to investigators when they used a "ruse," saying they had surveillance video of him in the park and DNA evidence, Walker said.

DeJesus said he was celebrating his birthday that day at the park, drinking a couple of beers with friends, Walker said.

DeJesus told the investigator he was sorry and asked the detective to tell the girl he wouldn't do it again, Walker said.

The Palm Terrace case was reopened following DeJesus' arrest for the Grand Park incident, Walker said.

DeJesus' attorney, Shannon Winston of the Orange County Public Defender's Office, said someone else at Palm Terrace molested the girl there.

Winston noted there were discrepancies in what the girl told authorities and that she could not pick DeJesus out in a lineup.

Winston also said the description of the man who molested the girl in Grand Park did not match DeJesus.

"I ask at the end of all the testimony to come back with a verdict of not guilty because my client is, in fact, not guilty," Winston said.

- City News Service


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