Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a 51-year-old man accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home in Indio and repeatedly raping her while armed with a rifle.
Juan Antonio Moreno is accused of sexually assaulting the woman three separate times on the same night in July 2017 at an unspecified address on Arabia Street, according to the criminal complaint.
A 4-year-old boy was in the residence when the woman was attacked, but he was unharmed, Indio police Sgt. Daniel Marshall said.
The woman had obtained a domestic violence restraining order against Moreno prior to the attack.
Moreno is facing three felony counts of rape by force or fear, along with criminal threats, burglary, domestic violence and child endangerment, with numerous allegations of committing sex offenses while armed with a rifle.
Jury selection is scheduled to continue Tuesday, with opening statements expected as early as Wednesday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
Moreno is being been held at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning in lieu of $1.5 million bail.