CAMARILLO : Jury Selection Begins in Molestation Case

Jury selection began Thursday in the trial of a Camarillo church teacher charged with 10 counts of child molestation in connection with attacks on a 13-year-old girl.

Meanwhile, the judge in the case ruled that another teen-ager who says she was molested by Robert C. Rose eight years ago may testify against him even though she is not included as a victim in the criminal case.

Rose, 49, is charged with molesting the 13-year-old between January and April, 1993, at various locations, including at least once at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church.

At the time, Rose was director of the church’s youth religion education program.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Saundra T. Brewer had sought to introduce the testimony of three girls whose allegations against Rose did not result in criminal charges. Superior Court Judge Ken W. Riley ruled Thursday that only one of the girls had a story similar enough to the alleged victim’s to make her testimony admissible.

Brewer said the teen-ager who will testify says she was molested by Rose when she was between the ages of 6 and 10. Charges were not filed in that case because it fell outside the statute of limitations, the prosecutor said.

Jury selection is scheduled to resume today. Once a jury is picked, the case will be in recess until Nov. 15, when the prosecution will begin to present its evidence.