An Orange County Superior Court Thursday granted a defendant’s request to withdraw his guilty plea in a case in which he was accused of punching a pregnant woman in the stomach and sexually assaulting another woman in a crime spree in Tustin.
Sean Anthony Aguilera pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted robbery and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, both felonies, as well as battery and touching an intimate part of another person, both misdemeanors. Aguilera was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, but he told Orange County Superior Court Judge Terri Flynn-Peister that he changed his mind because he did not want to register as a sex offender.
Flynn-Peister reminded Aguilera that she made it clear to the defendant on Tuesday that would be one of the requirements of the plea deal “and you agreed,” but she decided to grant the request to vacate the guilty plea anyway.
Attorneys were close to beginning jury selection when they struck the plea deal earlier this week. Now Aguilera’s case has been sent to the courtroom that handles assignment of judges for trial and he will next appear in court on May 21 with a trial shortly to follow.
Police were called about 6:50 p.m. Oct. 21, 2022, by a witness who saw a suspect assault an elderly woman and run away before walking into an apartment complex along the 300 block of West Sixth Street, police said. Officers who responded could not find the suspect.
About an hour later, a woman called 911 saying she had been sexually assaulted by a suspect along the 14200 block of Newport Avenue, police said.
The suspect matched the description of the earlier call, police said. The woman shouted for help and was able to get away without injury as the suspect ran away.
About 10 minutes later, another woman called 911 saying the same suspect tried to get into her vehicle as she was leaving her apartment building in the 1100 block of Walnut Avenue, but she was able to get away in her vehicle without injury, police said.
A security guard called 911 about 8:15 p.m. saying the same suspect assaulted him and attempted to steal his portable radio in the 14600 block of Newport Avenue, police said. The security guard resisted the robber, who ran away south on Newport.
Several minutes later, a woman who was eight-months pregnant called 911 from the 14800 block of Newport Avenue to report a suspect punched her in the stomach and ran away on Kenyon Drive, police said.
The woman was examined by medical personnel on scene and did not sustain serious injury, police reported.
Police caught the suspect moments after responding to the call.
Aguilera pleaded guilty to felony vandalism and misdemeanor criminal threats Nov. 19, 2021, and was sentenced to 16 months in jail, according to court records.
He was placed on two years of probation, but violated terms of probation and was jailed for 60 days in July, according to court records.