Just as his trial was set to begin, a 42-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday and was immediately sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in La Habra with help from a relative of the victim.
Victor Antonio Ramirez pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of lewd acts on a child aged 14 or 15. Ramirez, who has 814 days credit behind bars, will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Co-defendant Cassandra Jeanelle Flodter pleaded guilty Dec. 22, 2022, to 10 felony counts of sexually assaulting the victim as well as possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. She was sentenced to three years in prison.
In her plea agreement, Flodter, who is related to the victim, admitted to “encouraging” Ramirez to sexually assault the teen.
According to testimony from police at Ramirez’s preliminary hearing, Flodter used Ramirez to teach the teen sex education.
Ramirez and Flodter were friends who lived in the same apartment complex in La Habra, police said.
The teen asked Ramirez for a back massage on Feb. 11, 2022, that turned sexual, police said. The two stopped when Flodter came out of the bathroom, and the teen later told Flodter what had happened with Ramirez, police said.
Flodter felt “left out,” police said.
Later, Ramirez and Flodter stepped into the teen’s shower and sexually assaulted her, police said. The girl said she did not want to continue and left, police said.
A week later, Ramirez sexually assaulted the teen again, and two weeks after that Ramirez and Flodter put a pornographic video on and assaulted the teen, police said. That sexual assault ceased when the teen’s brother walked in on it, police said.
Opening statements in Ramirez’s trial were set to begin Monday morning, but the attorneys on the case worked out a plea deal and jurors were dismissed.