Pretrial motions got underway Monday ahead of jury selection for the trial of a former daycare operator accused of sexually assaulting two Riverside girls.
Ladislao Diaz Cuevas, 56, was arrested on Feb. 10, 2023, 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.
On Thursday, the defendant’s case was transferred to the courtroom of Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst, who set a hearing to rule on prosecution and defense motions regarding evidence, witnesses, scheduling and other matters. Those motions were under review Monday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Jury selection could begin as early as Tuesday.
Cuevas is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
Former Riverside police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback said in 2023 that detectives from the department’s Sexual Assault-Child Abuse Unit received information in January of that year 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 at the time.
The two youths were identified only as Jane Does. The specific circumstances behind the alleged assaults were not disclosed.
Cuevas operated Little Steps Family Daycare in the 11000 block of Oriole Drive, just off La Sierra Avenue, on the western edge of the city, the police spokesman said.
The facility has since been shut down.
Cuevas has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
If convicted, he could face life in prison with the possibility of parole.