Couple in Child Sex-Photos Case to Stand Trial : Law: Man and woman arrested in molestation of Newport Beach toddler choose to avoid open-court preliminary hearing after the prosecutor tells of plans to show the pictures to the judge.

The man and woman arrested in the sexual molestation of a 3-year-old Newport Beach girl--after discarded photographs sparked a high-profile dragnet--waived their right to a preliminary hearing Friday and were ordered to stand trial in Superior Court.

Their decision came after the prosecutor said he was simply going to show Municipal Judge Michael Dest the photographs--the “smoking gun” evidence that led to the felony charges against Ronald Ruskjer, 44, and Evelyn (Evie) Bacilio, 33, of the southern San Bernardino County city of Grand Terrace.

The defendants, each in arm and leg shackles and being detained in lieu of $2-million bail, chose to avoid the open court hearing into the evidence against them and agreed to go directly to trial.

Ruskjer, a former faculty member at Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health, was charged with four counts of sexual molestation of a child, and Bacilio, a secretary at a medical equipment company, faces three counts of the same charge.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Vanella said Friday that each would face three additional felony charges alleging involvement in having taken photographs of a minor’s genitalia.

The photographs, which were edited and then made public by police seeking to identify the child molesters, were discarded and later discovered in Los Angeles, near where Ruskjer’s car was stolen, it turned out.

All told, Vanella said, authorities have 11 photographs of the incident--four showing Ruskjer having contact with the girl, three of Bacilio touching the girl, and four of the girl alone. All were believed taken Jan. 9, when the child’s parents asked Bacilio to watch the girl while they spent the weekend in Palm Springs.

“This was a planned, calculated event,” Vanella said.

William Hale, Ruskjer’s attorney, disputed the prosecution’s contention, saying of the photographs: “No one knows when they were taken, why they were taken, who took them, or if they’re a fair representation of what they seem to depict. They don’t necessarily show the molestation of a young girl.”

“People in Hollywood,” he said, “do different things with photographs, to show things that didn’t really happen.”

Vanella said he was “absolutely confident the photos were not doctored.”

The publicity generated by the release of the photographs led to the identification of Ruskjer and Bacilio. Ruskjer was arrested Oct. 8 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after landing there on a flight from Tokyo, and Bacilio was arrested at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport before she boarded a flight to Chicago.

The victim, Vanella said, has shown no physical injuries and has no recollection of the incident.

Hale said Ruskjer disputes all the charges and said he was hopeful the case could be resolved before it goes to trial.