People v. Najera CA4/3

FACTS

The victim, E., is defendant’s son. When E. was eight or nine years old and in the third grade, he lived with his mother M. (mother), his big sister J. (sister), and defendant in one bedroom in another family’s home. Defendant, mother, and sister would sleep together on one sofa bed, while E. slept on the floor.

Initial Report to Law Enforcement and Subsequent Interviews When E. was in the fifth grade, defendant lost his job and mother was not really working. E. did not want to return to Mexico to live with his other siblings. One

2 day E. got into trouble at school. The school asked mother to come to the school because E. was misbehaving. E. was brought to the principal’s office. The principal asked E. if anything was going on at home that was different or was upsetting him, because E. had not “been himself.” E. told the principal that defendant had sodomized him when he was in the third grade. The principal immediately stopped the conversation and called law enforcement. An officer and a social worker arrived. The social worker, who was assigned to the Child Abuse Services Team (C.A.S.T.), spoke with E. and used a gingerbread boy drawing to talk about body parts.…