Earlier this week, jurors heard testimony from sheriff’s office detectives, the victim’s mother, and Bolaños himself. But the case relies heavily on the testimony of the now-10-year-old victim.

Taking the stand under oath, the child claimed that Bolaños had approached him, kissed him, and made inappropriate touches. The girl said Bolanos then walked to a nearby bathroom and motioned for the child to follow him. She refused to do so, she said.

“Because I was scared,” the girl explained to the court.

The girl also recalled that Bolanos had spent the money to buy a toy and testified that he had given her the money.

The mother wept quietly in the common room while the child addressed the lawyer in court.

“It’s not complicated,” said county attorney Matthew Cannon in his opening statement, urging jurors to carefully consider the testimony at hand.

Attorney George Damon, who represented Bolanos, made a similar request, saying he “would like to be heard” and warned jurors against “judgements” regarding their clients.

Seeking to create holes in the prosecution’s case, Damon questioned the credibility of the witnesses and once asked detectives whether the girl was known as a “liar,” an “exaggerator” and a “drama queen.” Asked. “

But the girl’s mother had a different point of view. On Tuesday’s witness stand, the girl’s mother told prosecutors that she had noticed changes in her daughter after her abuse, describing the child’s patterns of anxiety, fear, frustration and grief.

Her mother said the girl had been in therapy since the abuse.

Another issue raised during the trial concerned the sheriff’s office and its methodology in abuse cases. Detectives did not issue an arrest warrant for Mr. Bolaños on the alleged abuse and did not successfully interrogate Mr. Bolaños until nearly two months after the abuse.

Bolaños listened in silence through his interpreter’s headphones as the clerk read out the verdict shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday. The victim’s mother sat in the public viewing area, rested her head on the chair in front of her, then stood up and took a deep breath.

Child sexual abuse is a second-degree felony and carries a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison under Arizona law. Bolanos’ sentencing is imminent.

The girl’s mother said the abuse occurred on April 10, 2022, but was not present during the incident. Her mother said she learned of her abuse three days later, on April 13, when she was told by her daughter. The following day, April 14, the exchange was reported to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

When child abuse is reported to local law enforcement, officers often work with the Southern Arizona Child Advocacy Center in Tucson. At advocacy centers, children can participate in forensic interviews with trained professionals.

According to the sergeant, that’s what happened in this case. Luvia Garcia, who led the case as a county detective.

Garcia initially testified that the sheriff’s office collected basic information from the girl. A few days later she went for her forensic interview in Tucson.

Garcia told prosecutors at his trial on Wednesday that he felt more comfortable asking a trained professional to interrogate the child.

Garcia then said an operation to search for Bolanos (ATL) was launched.

“This has been passed on to all the agencies around us, so if you come across him please contact me,” she explained from the witness stand.

Nearly two months have passed since then. Garcia said law enforcement tried to contact Bolaños without much success.

Damon focused specifically on Garcia during the questioning of witnesses. Damon and Garcia said the sheriff’s office didn’t interrogate Bolaños until June, nearly two months after the incident.

Damon asked why it took so long.

“I could have gone to the county attorney’s office and asked, ‘I’d like to get a search warrant.’ We can’t find this guy,” Damon said.

“I mean, I could,” Garcia replied.

“But you didn’t do that,” Damon said.

“No, I didn’t,” she replied.

Cannon then questioned Garcia on the same issue.

“Why didn’t you get an arrest warrant?” Cannon asked Garcia.

“Well, I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions,” Garcia said. “I wanted to hear Mr. Bolanos’ side of the story.”

Lawyers said the sheriff’s department only contacted Bolaños 56 days after the abuse was reported, when he was taken away on a separate warrant for an unrelated domestic violence crime.

On that day, June 11, investigators began questioning Bolanos whether he had abused a nine-year-old girl. Garcia said the defendant’s demeanor changed when the allegations surfaced.

“His shoulders went up.

On behalf of Bolaños, Damon asked Garcia more questions about the conduct of the sheriff’s office investigation.

“Have you never dealt with a crime scene?” Damon asked Garcia.

“No,” Garcia replied. “I did not respond to the crime scene.”

“Didn’t you know about her grades?” Damon asked Garcia at another point.

“No,” Garcia replied.

“Have you ever spoken to one of your teachers and found out if there was a change in her personality?” he pressed.

“No,” Garcia replied.

After a jury heard the county detective’s testimony Wednesday afternoon, Damon demanded that the child’s testimony be dropped entirely, arguing that the child’s testimony would not hold up in court.

“There are no witnesses other than the witness child. She has not substantiated sufficient evidence that sexual abuse occurred,” Damon said.

Cannon argued that a witness’s testimony was sufficient to obtain a likelihood of guilt, so long as the testimony was consistent and reasonable.

“Victims of child sexual abuse cannot consent to a crime. Therefore, there is no need to corroborate the children’s testimony,” Cannon added, citing a similar out-of-state case in 2015.

Ultimately, Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink dismissed Damon’s motion and moved to continue the trial. Fink noted that the girl’s mother had testified about her daughter’s change in behavior, which counted as evidence.

And Mr. Fink said the victim’s testimony was enough.

“Due to the nature of these cases, corroborative information may not exist,” Fink said. “And that’s what makes this case so difficult for everyone. But I have determined that her testimony is sufficient to provide substantial evidence, so the motion is dismissed.” it was done.”