A 35-year-old man was convicted Thursday of molesting two girls he lived with in Orange.
Esteban Javier Hernandezricardo was convicted of six counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a minor younger than 14 and two counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 or younger, all felonies. Sentencing is scheduled for April 10.
Hernandezricardo was a friend of the family of the two girls he lived with in Orange, police said in testimony at his preliminary hearing.
One of the accusers came forward to police in February 2021, when she heard the defendant was returning to the U.S. from Mexico, police said. She was 18 at the time, and she said the abuse stopped when she was 14.
Hernandezricardo was a godfather to the girls and lived with the family in an apartment and, later when they moved to a new home, police said.
The girls alleged the defendant would call them into his room and molest them, police said. One of the girls was 4 or 5 when the abuse began, police said.
The defendant told police he was 16 or 17 when he started molesting one of the girls when she was 7 or 8, police said. He said he began molesting the other girl when she was 4 or 5 years old and he was 23.
Hernandezricardo’s attorney, Alexis Penn-Loya of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, argued that one of the accusers took long pauses in her testimony, suggesting she was unsure of how to answer.
“That suggested she was thinking of what she should say and that is reasonable doubt,” Penn-Loya told jurors in her closing argument.
Penn-Loya also said the accuser stretched credibility when she said the molestation would occur at times with siblings nearby.
She also brought up how reluctant the two were to come forward. One of the accusers initially denied she was molested but then recanted and alleged she was, Penn-Loya said.
Penn-Loya also noted how vague the two were about details of when the alleged attacks happened. She also argued that it was a congested two-bedroom apartment they resided in with 14 or 15 residents.
“That limits the windows of opportunity for this to happen,” Penn-Loya argued. “And there are so many people living on top of each other.”
Another man who lived in the home said he didn’t see anything suspicious, Penn-Loya said. But Deputy District Attorney Elise Levy argued the man also said he did not think the accusers would lie.
Levy argued that it is not uncommon for young victims of sexual abuse to not recall details of when the assaults happened.
“In this case we know (the victims) told the truth because the defendant confessed in the covert call,” Levy said.
Levy argued the molestation would occur when the parents of the girls were at work and that the defendant admitted to authorities that he “did it when no one else was around.”
The accusers did not come forward sooner because “they were scared, embarrassed, ashamed.”
Levy argued those feelings are fairly typical in sex abuse cases.
“It takes a lot of courage for victims to come forward with their sexual abuse,” Levy said.