HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The trial on sexual assault charges of the partner of a foster parent may be delayed pending further testing of evidence.
On Thursday morning in the Superior Court of Guam, Ike Elickios appeared for a pretrial conference for charges stemming from accusations that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl since she was in the fifth grade.
The assigned judge, Vernon Perez, called the hearing, considering Elickios is set to go to trial within the next two weeks.
Elickios’ attorney, John Morrison from the Public Defender Service Corp., said he was prepared to go to trial. However, in response, the Office of the Attorney General said it may need a delay.
Prosecutor Leah Diaz-Aguon was present at the hearing and further explained that her colleague Christine Tenorio, who was the assigned prosecutor for Elickios’ case, remained in the process of obtaining evidence.
“(Tenorio) did inform me that this case is pending some discovery. … (The Guam Police Department) hasn’t tested the bedding or the clothes yet, so we’re still pending that,” Diaz-Aguon said before adding Tenorio will be the prosecutor at trial later this month.
Morrison responded that he would be “reasonable, to an extent” regarding a delay.
“If the government’s application is to spend the next six months getting things tested, … we’ll be opposed,” Morrison said.
Perez concluded the hearing by explaining he was also willing to delay the trial for only weeks and not months. Perez scheduled a hearing for Jan. 11 to check back in with the parties.
Charges
According to court documents, the accuser in the case is the foster child of Elickios’ partner, with whom he also lives.
Elickios was charged after the teenager made a complaint to police that on March 31, 2023, she was asleep in her bedroom and woke up to the sound of the door opening. She felt someone reach into her shorts and touch her private parts, the magistrate’s complaint stated.
The minor said she then felt someone pull her shorts down before she was raped.
Elickios allegedly admitted to the sexual assault, “but stated he thought the (girl) was his partner.” He indicated he was drunk and could not confirm the details of the assault, court documents state.
Since being charged, Elickios has been held at the Department of Corrections on $25,000 cash bail.
Ike Elickios
