DHS Man Convicted of Sexually Abusing Disabled Relative

BANNING (CNS) – A felon who sexually assaulted a developmentally disabled 18-year-old female relative and inappropriately touched her younger sister was convicted Tuesday of nearly a dozen felony charges. Following a roughly weeklong trial, a Banning jury found Carlos Alberto Lopez, 51, of Desert Hot Springs, guilty of four counts each of rape of an adult unable to consent and incest, two counts of lewd acts on a minor and one count of sodomy of an incompetent victim. Jurors acquitted Lopez of a charge of committing multiple lewd acts on child in a crime series. Jurors deliberated less than a day. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Francisco Navarro scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 1 at the Banning Justice Center. Lopez, who is being held without bail at the nearby Smith Correctional Facility, is expected to receive life in prison. According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office and an arrest warrant affidavit filed by Desert Hot Springs police, Lopez sexually assaulted his relative, identified only as Jane Doe, on various occasions between November 2016 and January 2017. The victim was "suffering from autism and receiving extended care relative to the condition from continuing education," court papers stated. "She lived with her mother, did not drive a car, have a bank account, work a job, or use public transportation," documents said. The sexual encounters were uncovered on Jan. 4, 2017, when Jane Doe’s mother, identified in court documents only as "P.I.," returned to her Desert Hot Springs residence from the grocery store and heard unusual sounds emanating from her eldest daughter’s bedroom, according to the prosecution’s brief. The woman walked into the room to find Jane Doe half-naked and behaving evasively. The brief said that P.I. took the young woman to another part of the house and asked her specific questions regarding what had occurred, and the victim eventually admitted to "making out … with `C,"‘ whom P.I. immediately knew to be Lopez. The livid woman ordered him out of her house and contacted police, according to prosecutors. Detectives later interviewed Jane Doe and her 9-year-old sister about their encounters with Lopez. "During the course of the forensic interview of Jane Doe, she reported having had sex with the defendant multiple times in her room and house, which she initiated," according to the brief. "Jane Doe stated that these sexual encounters occurred on multiple occasions, sometimes with and without a condom." The young woman was confirmed to have the intellectual capacity of a 7- year-old, according to court papers. When detectives interviewed Jane Doe’s younger sister, who is not autistic, she told them that the defendant had "touched her near her vagina … and twice more on her buttocks without any prompting from her," the brief said. The investigation continued until March 2018, when Lopez was arrested without incident in Los Angeles. Court records show that he has prior convictions for domestic assault and making criminal threats. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.