John Sanchez, 34, was brought before Govendo after police arrested him based on a bench warrant issued by the judge on Jan. 13, 2011.
The court originally required Sanchez to post $500 cash bail, but this was raised by Govendo after he found out that the defendant could be a flight risk.
In its first amended complaint, the Attorney General’s Office charged Sanchez with sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree, sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree, and assault and battery.
The sexual assaults occurred in 2007 and 2008, while on or about Dec. 19, 2009, Sanchez slapped his victim, then 16, the complaint stated.
On July 29, 2010, Govendo denied Sanchez’s motion to dismiss for want of prosecution.
Sanchez claimed that the charge against him required that he occupy a position of authority over his alleged victim, and should be dismissed since he never occupied such a position.
Govendo ruled that there was no such requirement, and it only required that the defendant lived in the same house as the victim.
Police said the victim moved into Sanchez’s home in Dandan in Sept. 2008, and was beaten up by Sanchez but the victim did not report the incident to authorities.
Sanchez was arrested in Dec. 2009.
On Nov. 1, 2010, Govendo issued a bench warrant for Sanchez, and set no cash bail after he failed to appear for his pretrial conference. The parties later stipulated to vacate the jury trial set for Jan. 10, 2011.
On Jan. 13, 2011, Sanchez failed to appear for his status conference before Govendo.
A sister of Sanchez earlier told the court that the defendant was at home because he had gout.
