Avila Witness Cites Effects of Early Abuse

Samantha Runnion’s killer was more likely to become a pedophile because of how severely he was battered and molested as a child, a clinical psychologist told jurors Thursday.

The testimony came on the second day of the penalty phase of the trial in Orange County Superior Court to determine whether 30-year-old Alejandro Avila should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing the 5-year-old Stanton girl.

Avila’s lawyers have not specified how their client was sexually abused, saying that information would come next week. But his relatives have recounted family gatherings in which Avila’s father beat him.

A family “with no sexual boundaries, no sense of appropriate discipline” can irreparably damage a child, especially a male in a family where the culture emphasizes machismo, said Matthew Mendel, a North Carolina psychologist who wrote “The Male Survivor,” a book on the impact of sexual abuse on men.”It just distorts one’s whole idea of how people are supposed to treat each other,” Mendel testified in Judge William R. Froeberg’s Santa Ana courtroom.

Jurors convicted Avila last week of murdering Samantha, who was kidnapped July 15, 2002, as she played outside her family’s condominium.

The child’s mother and grandmother testified Wednesday about the anguish caused by Samantha’s murder but did not specify what punishment they would prefer.

The defense is expected to finish presenting witnesses -- including other mental health professionals and relatives of Avila’s -- Wednesday.

Mendel said he did not interview Avila and was not trying to analyze him. His testimony emphasized a “causal link” between experiencing molestation as a child and becoming a molester, with factors such as race, gender and socioeconomic status putting one at greater risk.

Under cross-examination from Assistant Dist. Atty. David Brent, Mendel said sexual abuse didn’t guarantee that one would also turn to deviant sexual behavior.

“The fact that you have these terrible things ... happen to you doesn’t mean that you are then forced to become a molester?” Brent asked.

“That’s absolutely correct,” Mendel replied.

The day’s other witness was a 31-year-old cousin of Avila’s, identified as Angelica C. She became distraught, wiping away tears as she described the years of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, Avila’s uncle, for years starting when she was 7 years old.

She also described typical family gatherings for the Avilas, who lived in Riverside and Los Angeles counties in the late 1980s.

The men would “get drunk and knock each other around and get violent with their wives,” Angelica said. The children would run into the yard or lock themselves in a bedroom to get away, she said.

Avila saw the fighting and was physically assaulted by his father, Angelica said. Rafael Avila Sr. hit the child with a belt, cursing at him and telling him he was “good for nothing,” she said. “He was very hard on them.”

The penalty phase of the trial continues Monday.