Jury deliberations got underway Tuesday in the trial of a 67-year-old Palm Desert man accused of sexually abusing three children distantly related to him.
Oscar William Alvarez is charged with six counts of lewd acts on a minor and one count each of oral copulation of a child, forcible sodomy of an underage person, annoying a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, with sentence-enhancing allegations of victimizing more than one person in sex crimes.
The prosecution and defense delivered closing statements Monday, and the jury returned to the Banning Justice Center Tuesday to begin deliberating in the weeklong trial, without reaching a verdict.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz directed the panel to resume deliberations Wednesday morning.
Alvarez is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant allegedly targeted his niece by marriage, identified in court documents only as “D.E.,” as well as her brother, identified as “B.E.,” and a step-grandson identified as “E.B.” The alleged molestations and related acts occurred mainly in the 2010s, the brief said.
All of the allegations surfaced in 2023.
The first victim to come forward was D.E., who alleged that when she was 5 years old, Alvarez sexually abused her on multiple occasions while babysitting. In one instance, the girl was laying on a bed resting when he entered the room and rubbed her privates to arouse himself, stopping only when her brother — B.E. — walked into the house, prosecutors alleged.
She also told investigators that he allegedly groped her in his vehicle, and liked to place her on top of him, according to court papers.
There were other similar encounters with Alvarez when the girl was 5, the brief said.
Prosecutors alleged B.E., who suffers from an undisclosed psychological disorder, was first molested at age 16. The victim told sheriff’s detectives that on a visit to Alvarez’s house, the defendant offered to give him a massage and asked him to remove his clothes. Alvarez situated himself behind the youth “and began to hump and thrust,” court papers alleged.
“During this time … the defendant’s penis entered B.E.’s anus three times,” according to the brief, adding that the minor endured the assault for a minute before he got away from Alvarez.
On another occasion, several years later, the defendant asked B.E. to visit him and gave the teenager whiskey to drink, the brief alleged.
While the teen was becoming inebriated, Alvarez put on women’s clothing, applying makeup before returning to where B.E. was sitting and presenting himself, according to the document.
“B.E. was frightened and told him to go change his clothes and take him home,” the narrative stated.
The defendant complied.
E.B. alleged that he was abused around the same period, though he was 6. According to the prosecution, on at least 10 separate occasions, Alvarez allegedly groped the victim’s privates and rubbed his buttocks, always while babysitting.
Alvarez was arrested without incident on Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage on Aug. 16, 2023.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.