Venitus Ruwaath and his wife leave the courtroom after a jury on Wednesday found him not guilty of sexually abusing a minor in the second degree. Also in photo is Assistant Public Defender Karrie Comstock.
AFTER deliberating for less than two hours on Wednesday, jurors found Venitus Ruwaath not guilty of sexually abusing a minor in the second degree.
Ruwaath, 41, became emotional upon hearing the verdict.
The trial began on Monday with Judge Wesley Bogdan presiding.
Coming out of the courtroom with his wife, Ruwaath declined to be interviewed, but told reporters, “I just want to go home.”
Assistant Public Defenders Emily Thomsen and Karrie Comstock represented Ruwaath.
In a statement, Thomsen said, “The jury spoke and the justice system worked. I hope the entire family finds peace.”
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds and Assistant Attorney General Frances Demapan represented the prosecution.
Hinds told reporters: “These…are tough cases — there is a single witness. Sexual abuse of a minor case is something that our office is dedicated to prosecute regardless of how hard it is. Now, just because the jury might not have found enough evidence, it does not mean the victim is not telling the truth. There might be just not enough evidence for the jury to feel comfortable finding [the defendant] guilty. We will continue to fight the good fight and we will be there for all victims that suffer from sexual abuse of minor cases.”
Both the prosecution and the defense rested their cases on Wednesday.
The prosecution called the minor, the minor’s mother, Detective Shannon Dela Cruz and Dr. Leticia Borja, a psychiatrist who was seeing the minor, to testify.
The defense witnesses were the defendant and his wife.
In her testimony, the minor reiterated that Ruwaath touched her inappropriately.
But according to the defendant, “I did not touch her.”
Ruwaath’s wife testified that the minor is her sister’s daughter, and that their relationship was good.
The wife said she treated the minor as her own daughter, adding that the minor was close to her and would often sleep over at her house.
She also testified that she had heard her husband’s side of the story regarding the allegation, but had refused to discuss the case with the Department of Public Safety.
Ruwaath’s wife said she had not spoken to her sister or her niece about the case, and had no personal knowledge about it as she was not present at her house during the alleged incident, which occurred in June 2020, before the minor’s 12th birthday.
