Jurors Acquit CV Man of Several Sex Abuse Charges, Deadlock on Others

BANNING (CNS) - Jurors in the trial of a 67-year-old Palm Desert man
accused of sexually abusing three children acquitted him Wednesday of a few charges
but deadlocked on others, likely setting the stage for a retrial on the
unresolved allegations.
  

Following two days of deliberations, a Banning jury on Wednesday found
Oscar William Alvarez not guilty of one count each of sodomy of a minor,
annoying a minor and lewd acts on a child under 14 years old. The jury,
however, was unable to reach unanimous verdicts on five remaining counts of
lewd acts on a child, as well as  sentence-enhancing allegations of victimizing
more than one person in sex crimes.
  

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz declared a mistrial
on the undecided charges and set a retrial conference for April 8 at the Larson
Justice Center in Indio. Prosecutors will announce then whether they intend to
proceed with retrying all five of the unresolved counts with the enhancements.
  

Alvarez remains held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center.
  

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office,
the defendant allegedly targeted his niece by marriage, identified in court
documents only as ``D.E.,'' as well as her brother, identified as ``B.E.,'' and
a step-grandson identified as ``E.B.'' The alleged illicit acts occurred mainly
in the 2010s, the brief said.
  

All of the allegations surfaced in 2023.
  

The first victim to come forward was D.E., who alleged that when she
was 5 years old, Alvarez sexually abused her on multiple occasions while
babysitting. In one instance, the girl was laying on a bed resting when he
entered the room and rubbed her privates to arouse himself, stopping only when
her brother -- B.E. -- walked into the house, prosecutors alleged.
  

She also told investigators that the defendant allegedly groped her in
his vehicle, and liked to place her on top of him, according to court papers.
  

There were other similar encounters with Alvarez, the girl alleged.
  

Prosecutors alleged B.E., who suffers from an undisclosed
psychological disorder, was first molested at age 16. The victim described an
act of sodomy for which jurors found there was insufficient evidence, leading
to the acquittal on that charge, and another in which the teenager alleged he
was plied with whiskey by the defendant.
  

E.B. alleged that he was abused around the same period and was 6 years
old at the time. According to the prosecution, on at least 10 separate
occasions, Alvarez allegedly groped the victim's privates and rubbed his
buttocks while babysitting.
  

Alvarez was arrested without incident on Bob Hope Drive in Rancho
Mirage on Aug. 16, 2023.
  

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
  

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