Jurors in the trial of a 67-year-old Palm Desert man accused of sexually abusing three children acquitted him Wednesday of a few charges but deadlocked on others, likely setting the stage for a retrial on the unresolved allegations.
Following two days of deliberations, a Banning jury on Wednesday found Oscar William Alvarez not guilty of one count each of sodomy of a minor, annoying a minor and lewd acts on a child under 14 years old. The jury, however, was unable to reach unanimous verdicts on five remaining counts of lewd acts on a child, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of victimizing more than one person in sex crimes.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz declared a mistrial on the undecided charges and set a retrial conference for April 8 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Prosecutors will announce then whether they intend to proceed with retrying all five of the unresolved counts with the enhancements.
Alvarez remains 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 illicit 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 the defendant 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, the girl alleged.
Prosecutors alleged B.E., who suffers from an undisclosed psychological disorder, was first molested at age 16. The victim described an act of sodomy for which jurors found there was insufficient evidence, leading to the acquittal on that charge, and another in which the teenager alleged he was plied with whiskey by the defendant.
E.B. alleged that he was abused around the same period and was 6 years old at the time. According to the prosecution, on at least 10 separate occasions, Alvarez allegedly groped the victim’s privates and rubbed his buttocks 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.