MOORPARK : Man Found Guilty of Molesting Girl
A Ventura County jury has convicted a 22-year-old Moorpark man of four counts of child molestation on charges that he sexually attacked a 12-year-old girl on her way home from Chaparral Middle School.
Robert Magdaleno, who said the girl willingly had sex with him, faces up to 34 years in prison.
The jury in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Allan Steele acquitted Magdaleno of a fifth count of child molestation in its decision Thursday.
The girl, who testified during the trial, accused the defendant of taking her to an unoccupied home and attacking her on Nov. 1.
Magdaleno was arrested several hours after the incident when the girl identified him in a photo lineup.
During the trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rebecca L. Day told the jury that the girl was a virgin prior to the assault and that she told Magdaleno she did not want to have sex with him.
Defense attorney Joe Lax said the girl consented to the sex, but accused Magdaleno of using force against her because she was late arriving home that day.
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