TWO men accused of touching a minor inappropriately have been arrested in separate cases.
Venitus “Vince” Ruwaath and Bernardo Rey Rago are each charged with sexual abuse of a minor in the 2nd degree and disturbing the peace.
Ruwaath, 41, appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Friday morning for a bail hearing.
Judge Camacho imposed a $20,000 cash bail on Ruwaath and remanded him to the custody of the Department of Corrections after the hearing.
Ruwaath, who was represented by Assistant Public Defender Karie Comstock, was ordered to return to court on June 10 at 10 a.m. for a preliminary hearing, and on June 13 at 9 a.m. for an arraignment.
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 in a room watching YouTube videos when the defendant entered the room and started touching her inappropriately.
Second defendant
As for Rago, Judge Camacho granted his request to be released to a third-party custodian after submitting a $20,000 unsecured bond.
The two third-party custodians for Rago are a police officer and a neighbor.
Rago, 44, will be under house arrest at all times, but Judge Camacho allowed him to go fishing for livelihood provided that he is with one of his third-party custodians.
The complaint against Rago stated that the incident happened two years ago, but was reported to the authorities on March 19, 2022, by the mother.
The minor, who was 10 years old at that time, told authorities that the defendant inappropriately touched her on three separate occasions at his residence whenever her mother dropped her in the afternoon.
She said on another occasion at a beach, Rago also inappropriately touched her while she was swimming.
Rago was represented by attorney Robert T. Torres who waived a preliminary hearing.
Rago is scheduled to return to court on June 13 at 9 a.m. for an arraignment.
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government in both cases.
