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	Murrieta Man's Molestation Trial Begins after Attempt to Halt It Fails By Tammy J. McCoy The Press-Enterprise April 7, 2008 http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_sfaith08.3cd3b29.html A Murrieta man's trial on molestation charges began Monday after an appellate court declined his request to halt it and rule on whether two Jehovah's Witnesses' elders could be required to testify. In opening statements, a prosecutor told jurors the man touched girls during his daughter's sleepover party in Murrieta. "The defendant Gilbert Simental fondled three separate girls by exploiting the innocent trust of his own daughter's slumber party," prosecutor Burke Strunsky told the jury. Simental, 49, is charged with molesting two of his daughter's friends at his home from July 2005 to July 2006. The girls, who are sisters, were ages 9 and 10 at the time, the prosecutor said. The Press-Enterprise does not publish the names of minors who are believed to have been victims of sexual abuse. Simental is charged in a separate case with molesting another girl. That case is awaiting trial at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley. Defense attorney Miles Clark chose to reserve his opening statement until the defense begins its case. Strunsky's opening statement came hours after learning that an appellate court declined to hear a defense petition requesting it stop the trial to address a ruling by Riverside County Superior Court Judge F. Paul Dickerson. Dickerson has ordered elders from Simental's Jehovah's Witnesses congregation to testify about statements Simental reportedly made to them during an inquiry into child molestation allegations. Simental's attorneys had asked the appellate court to overturn the order and not force the elders to testify. "We are disappointed that they did not grant the stay and decide the issue," defense attorney Clark said Monday morning. Clark said he will ask another court to hear the defense's petition and hopes to file paperwork with the appropriate court later this week. The defense maintains that the state is depriving the elders and its members of the right to keep these statements confidential while giving that right to others who engage in one-on-one confessions or counseling with clergy, according to court papers filed with the appellate court. Simental and elders Andrew Sinay and John Vaughn all believed their conversations were confidential during their inquiry into child sex abuse, Clark has said. In his ruling, Dickerson said that with three elders involved, their judicial committee became a fact-finding body, not one focused on confidentiality. When someone is removed from the Jehovah's Witnesses, notes from a judicial committee meeting are passed on to another committee that handles the appeal. The elders must send paperwork explaining evidence presented to the Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters in New York after the person is dismissed. Strunsky, the prosecutor, declined to comment on the appellate court's ruling. However, during Strunsky's opening statement, he told jurors that elders from Simental's Jehovah's Witnesses congregation would testify. Simental told the elders that he molested the girls, Strunsky said. "You are going to see in this case three very, very brave little girls," he said. "They have no reason to make this up." The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday at the Southwest Justice Center. If convicted of all charges, Simental faces 45 years to life in prison. He is free on $1 million bail. Reach Tammy J. McCoy at 951-375-3729 or tmccoy@PE.com
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