A 30-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a Lake Elsinore girl several times must stand trial for forcible rape of a child and other charges, a judge ruled Friday.
Christian Javier Ramirez Padilla was arrested in March 2021 following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the alleged 2020 attack.
At the end of a preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on the three counts of forcible rape, as well as two counts each of lewd acts on a minor and unlawful intercourse. The judge dismissed a charge of possession of child pornography.
He scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Feb. 28. Padilla is free on a $100,000 bond.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Julio Olguin, deputies were informed about the alleged assaults in early 2021, although the victim, identified in court documents only as “E.G.,” told investigators the attack occurred in June 2020.
Olguin alleged that Padilla encountered the girl at a residence in the 39000 block of Ardenwood Way, near Highway 74, and forced himself on her over an unspecified period.
It was unclear why the alleged offenses weren’t immediately reported, and no information was disclosed regarding how the defendant and victim were acquainted.
Detectives obtained evidence that justified an arrest warrant, which they served on the defendant after he stopped on Central Avenue in Lake Elsinore on March 26, 2021, according to the sergeant.
Padilla has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.