A Dec. 11 trial date was confirmed Friday for the former operator of a Riverside child daycare facility who is accused of sexually assaulting two girls.
Ladislao Diaz Cuevas, 55, was arrested last year following a Riverside Police Department investigation.
Cuevas is charged with five counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and a sentence-enhancing allegation of targeting more than one victim in a sex crime.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam conferred with the prosecution and defense regarding scheduling, and both sides agreed to be prepared to move forward with trial proceedings during the second week of December.
Cuevas is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.
According to police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback, detectives from the department’s Sexual Assault-Child Abuse Unit received information in January 2023 indicating the defendant allegedly had inappropriate contact with a girl in 2020.
During the ensuing investigation, “a second victim came forward to report similar allegations that occurred in December 2022,” Railsback said.
The two youths were identified only as Jane Does.
Cuevas operated Little Steps Family Daycare in the 11000 block of Oriole Drive, just off of La Sierra Avenue, on the western edge of the city, the police spokesman said. The facility is no longer open.
The specific circumstances behind the alleged assaults were not disclosed.
Cuevas has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.