Victim says defendant wanted nude photo of her

Day three of trial of Fairfield man accused of multiple child sexual abuse charges

On the third trial day for a 33-year-old Fairfield man charged with multiple child sex assaults, the victim said the defendant wanted a photo of her using the bathroom; identified an inappropriate Instagram post from the defendant; and recalled being interviewed about his behavior in 2017 by a Fairfield police officer.

Seated at the defense table and staring straight ahead, Felipe Jesus RiosAngulo listened to the victim testify Wednesday morning in Department 9 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

Responding to questions by Deputy District Attorney Kathleen McBride, the victim recalled the defendant asking her for a photo of her using the bathroom in a residence. “That would mean I wouldn't have my clothes on,” she said while seated on the witness stand, a “support person” next to her.

McBride also asked if the victim recalled “being friends with the defendant on Instagram.”

“Yes,” she replied and moments later confirmed a photo of Rios-Angulo from his Instagram account, which McBride entered into evidence in Judge Carlos R. Gutierrez's courtroom.

At one point, McBride showed on a large-screen monitor an image of the victim's account, the subject line reading “I want to kiss you but your mom …,” the rest of the statement truncated and not visible.

The victim also testified that she told a friend that she was in an inappropriate relationship with RiosAngulo

but said the behavior had stopped by October 2017, more than two years after it began.

“Did you ever speak with a police officer” about the relationship with Rios-Angulo? McBride asked.

“Yes,” the victim said, adding, responding to another question, that she stopped spending time with Rios-Angulo's family in October 2017.

A Mexican national not in custody, Rios-Angulo is accused of continued sexual abuse of a child under 14 and six counts of lewd acts with a child 14 or 15, among other charges.

In May 2018, Rios-Angulo pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, all felonies, and all involving the same child at various times between 2015 and 2017.

During the afternoon session, defense attorney Vincent Maher attempted to weaken the prosecution's case, getting the the victim to testify that she could not recall specific details of her speaking with a Fairfield police officer.

“Do you remember what you told him?” asked Maher.

“No,” she said, but added that she remembered “what he did to me,” an apparent reference to Rios-Angulo's alleged actions.

At the trial's outset June 9, the victim said she was 13 when she met Rios-Angulo more than seven years ago.

At one point, describing one of Rios-Angulo's alleged sexual advances, she said he started kissing her while standing behind her as she combed her hair. He also kissed her on the mouth and neck.

“Had you ever been kissed like that before?” McBride asked.

“No,” she said.

During the afternoon session on the trial's first day, the victim alleged that, when they were alone in a room at another time, the defendant began touching her under the Tshirt she wore “for about a minute.”

“Did anything like that happen again?” McBride asked.

“Yes,” the witness replied, recounting an instance in a home's laundry room.

Rios-Angulo's trial follows an early January 2019 arraignment on the charges after a December 2018 preliminary hearing.

During the arraignment, Maher noted that his client had been arrested in Sacramento by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rios-Angulo posted a $160,000 bond and was released but he still faces possible deportation if convicted.

Maher said that the bond and a previous $255,000 bond related to the sex abuse case had “crippled my client and his family,” and asked the judge, asserting his client was not a flight risk, to forgo an increase in bail.

Gutierrez denied the DA's request for a bail increase but reminded Rios-Angulo about an existing restraining order not to go near the victim or her family.

Court records show the DA filed a complaint May 2, 2018. On June 21, the court issued a subpoena for records held by the FairfieldSuisun Unified School District. Rios-Angulo posted the $255,000 bond June 26.

If convicted on all charges, he faces a lengthy state prison sentence.

The trial resumes at 10 a.m. Thursday in Department 9 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.