People v. Ruether CA5

FACTS

The four offenses charged in this case occurred in a hotel room in Fresno between June 14 and June 23, 2016, when Jane was 13 years old. Defendant, however, began sexually abusing Jane when she was seven or eight years old. Thus, the prosecution presented not only evidence of the charged offenses, but also evidence of defendant’s prior uncharged acts against Jane. Additionally, the prosecution presented evidence of defendant’s prior uncharged acts against another girl named A.Q. Jane’s Trial Testimony Defendant had custody of Jane from the time she was three years old. Over the course of Jane’s childhood, defendant and Jane lived together in multiple states, including Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and California. Jane, who was 16 years old at the time of trial, testified that defendant would “touch on my private areas and make me do things … in his private areas” for “all [her] life.” Jane

2. testified that the first incidents of abuse occurred when she and defendant were living in Tennessee. During these incidents, defendant touched Jane’s vagina with his fingers, touched her breasts, put his penis on Jane’s mouth and made her “go up and down,” and put his tongue and…