People v. Alvaro CA1/2

Background C. (born in 2007) and S. (born in 2011) are half-sisters. (They have the same mother and different fathers.) The girls’ mother (Mother) started dating defendant, and defendant moved into the family’s two-bedroom apartment when C. was about eight years old (around 2014). The apartment had two stories with the bedrooms upstairs. C. and S. shared a bedroom, and defendant shared a bedroom with Mother (Mother’s bedroom). Defendant lived with the family for about six years. C.’s Testimony At the time of trial, C. was 17 years old. She testified about an incident when she was nine years old. Mother was downstairs in the kitchen with her friends, and defendant “invited [C.] upstairs” with a waving hand gesture. C. and defendant went into Mother’s bedroom, and defendant closed and locked the door. Defendant asked C. what she wanted for her birthday. C. told him she wanted an iPod, and he said he would buy it for her. Defendant “sat [C.]

2 on his lap” and “caressed” her. He touched her back and thighs, and C. got scared. She told defendant she was hungry, and he let her go. The second incident C. recalled occurred when she was in seventh grade in the winter of 2019. Mother was…