People v. Manuel CA3

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A. lived in Mexico with her mother, who met defendant on social media and began a romantic relationship with him. In 2018, when A. was nine years old, she and her mother moved to the United States to live with defendant. In May 2020, defendant called the sheriff’s department because A.’s mother would not give him the keys to the car. The reporting officer and his partner responded to the call at the apartment, and A.’s mother told them that she had seen defendant molest A. sometime between the evening of April 27, 2020, and morning of April 28, 2020. Defendant’s hand was under A.’s pants, between her legs, and around her vaginal area. A.’s mother explained she had not contacted the police at that time because she wanted to give defendant a second chance. While his partner detained defendant, the reporting officer spoke with then-11- year-old A., who told him, “I’ve never actually seen [defendant] touch me sexually with my own eyes; however, I do feel like someone had been touching me occasionally when I am asleep at night. Every time I am asleep, I can feel someone’s fingers poking my vagina and touching my body. I didn’t see him poke his fingers in my…