The Former Los Osos Church Youth Group Volunteer Who Pleaded No Contest to Sex Acts with a Teen Girl Won't Likely Be Forced to Register As a Sex Offender
By Leslie Parrilla
San Luis Obispo Tribune
November 10, 2007
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/189195.html
A former Los Osos church youth group volunteer is expected to serve jail time—but not have to register as a sex offender — after he changed his plea this week to charges of molesting a girl, then 15, during an amusement park trip.
Ysidro "Sid" Arthur Jacquez, 36, who also uses the last name Alvarez, pleaded no contest Thursday—which results in a conviction without admitting guilt—to felony commission of an act of sexual penetration with a person under age 16 while being over age 21, according to court documents.
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A second felony charge of committing a lewd act on a child was dropped as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to court documents.
Jacquez is expected to be sentenced Dec. 6 to a maximum 180 days in jail, five years of probation and mandator y counseling, according to court documents.
Superior Court Judge Ginger Garrett is not expected to require Jacquez to register as a sex offender.
"The law doesn't require him to register when (the victim) is somebody who's over 14 and it's not a forcible act," prosecutor Jesse Marino said Friday. "If you have something akin to statutory rape, then registration is not required."
A judge, however, could order registration in cases in which the law does not require it, said Marino, who presented the issue in court.
Jacquez, a former youth group volunteer at El Morro Church of the Nazarene, met the victim through the church. He volunteered for the youth group to lead small group discussions.
During an Aug. 2, 2006, trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia with children from the youth group and Jacquez's family, Jacquez — then living in Morro Bay — allegedly masturbated the victim and had her masturbate him, according to court documents.
Jacquez had faced prison time for the felony offenses. But Marino said he thinks the outcome would have been similar if the case had gone to a jury trial.
Jacquez's attorney, David Candelaria of Porterville, said he was pleased his client doesn't have to register as a sex offender.
"Justice is served in this matter. … There was no force," Candelaria said Friday. "The bottom line is: I don't think the facts call for anything different."
Candelaria declined to comment on why Jacquez changed his plea.
The victim's parents said Friday they were disappointed Jacquez doesn't have to register and that the case did not go to trial, because their daughter would have testified.
The Tribune is not identifying the victim because she was a minor at the time of the alleged crime and the victim of a sex crime.
"My husband and I are just blown away by the whole decision," said the victim's mother, who The Tribune also is not identifying to protect her daughter's identity.
"My main concern right now is making sure he does the full 180 days. He needs to pay for what he's done."
Jacquez, a father of two, has a criminal record in San Luis Obispo County that includes convictions for domestic abuse, vandalism, driving under the influence and driving with suspended privileges.
In 2004, his wife filed a restraining order against him, claiming he repeatedly assaulted her. He was also convicted of a felony in 1993 for taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, according to Tulare County Superior Court records.
Jacquez was investigated in 1996 on suspicion of molesting a 15-year-old girl in Los Osos the year before. According to a sheriff's crime report and the victim, Jacquez, then 24, met the girl while working as a youth group leader at a Presbyterian church.
Charges in that case were never filed because of insufficient evidence, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
Leslie Parrilla can be reached at 783-7645.
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