VENITUS Ruwaath, 41, pled not guilty to the charge of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree at an arraignment before Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja on June 13, 2022.
Ruwaath was represented by Assistant Public Defender Vina Seelam while Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government.
Judge Naraja scheduled a status conference for July 28, 2022 at 10 a.m. before Judge Wesley Bogdan.
On June 10, 2022, the court found probable cause to charge Ruwaath with sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree based on the testimony of a Department of Public Safety detective.
According to the complaint against Ruwaath, police received a walk-in complaint of a sexual abuse of a minor case on March 27, 2022. The father of the minor reported the incident.
During a forensic interview, the minor victim told authorities that the incident happened sometime in June 2020.
The minor said she was in bed watching YouTube videos when the defendant came in, asked what she was doing and started touching her inappropriately.
At a hearing on June 3, 2022, the court imposed a $20,000 cash bail on Ruwaath and remanded him to the custody of the Department of Corrections.
