SOLEDAD — On May 3, a Monterey County jury found Soledad resident Raul Arroyo, 64, guilty of numerous lewd acts with a child between the ages of 14 and 15, and raping that same child when she was unconscious.
In 2014, the victim, who was 13 at the time, and her four siblings were removed from their parents by CPS because her father was physically and sexually abusive to the children. The children were separated and placed in foster care until they were then placed with Arroyo, the victim’s biological relative.
In the fall of 2015, the victim began noticing a change in behavior from Arroyo.
According to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, “He would compliment her looks and touch her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable but may have seemed innocuous from an outside observer’s perspective.”
On several occasions in 2016, Arroyo would continuously make sexual advances toward the victim, ultimately raping her in May.
“During the previous months, she was scared to report what happened because of the negative experiences she had from being separated from her family and siblings after her sibling’s disclosure against her father,” the DA’s Office stated in a news release. “Despite that fear, she had been disclosing to confidants some of the abuse that had been occurring that year.”
On May 25, 2016, with the encouragement of her friends, she disclosed the abuse to her NJROTC captain at Soledad High School who reported the conduct to police. Later that day, Soledad police officers seized her blankets and bed liner when she reported that the sheets had not been washed since the rape.
The bed liner was tested by the California Department of Justice and multiple stains tested positive for Arroyo’s DNA.
Monterey County Judge Stephanie Hulsey will preside over the sentencing.
