EX-UFC champ Velasquez faces a new bail hearing
SAN JOSE >> Former mixed martial arts champion Cain Velasquez will get a new bail hearing later this month after allegedly trying to kill a person suspected of molesting an underage relative.
In an a May 6 hearing at the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Judge Jose Franco granted Velasquez, 39, a new bail hearing was scheduled for this past Monday with a plea hearing scheduled for June. Velasquez faces 10 assault and weapons charges that could result in more than 20 years of jail time. He was denied bail in March and remains in custody at the Santa Clara County Main Jail.
Velasquez is accused of firing a gun at a man accused of molesting his child relative. That man, 43-yearold Harry Eugene Goularte, has been charged with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14, specifically a 4-year-old.
Goularte was granted supervised release at his arraignment in February. He was on his way to get fitted for an ankle monitor with his parents when Velasquez allegedly began firing at the car, pursuing the group to the southern edge of San Jose and wounding Goularte's stepfather.
Velasquez was arrested after the incident. In early March, he was denied bail, drawing public complaints from his supporters. Many expressed anger that Goularte had been released before his trial, while Velasquez was still in jail.
According to Santa Clara County sheriff's investigators and prosecutors, the reported molestation victim, a close relative of Velasquez, told their parents in February about being molested by Goularte at a home daycare in San Martin run by Goularte's mother.
Last month, Velasquez made his first public statement since being charged, thanking his supporters in a social media post that described his case as “complex” and that their faith has given him “strength in my darkest times.”
An attorney for Goularte said in April that his client had been forced into hiding, and that his prospects for a fair trial have been compromised after Velasquez's alleged attempt on his life.