May 14, 2008 10:48 pm
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By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
A man who has been cited as an illegal immigrant was ordered bound over for trial on a charge of sexually molesting a 17-year-old girl after a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Leonardo Valentin Portillo, 30, was charged in March with forcible sodomy for an alleged sexual assault of the girl at a rural home near Diamond in the early morning hours of March 16.
The alleged victim testified that she and several other people, including her sister, were partying at the home, where Portillo lived with a woman she knew. She said she had met Portillo on previous occasions, knew him by the name “Arnesto” and had some familiarity with him.
She acknowledged that she drank four shots of whiskey and took some “sips” of vodka, but said did not believe she was particularly drunk before lying down in a bedroom in the house. Portillo, she said, came into the bedroom on more than one occasion during the night.
The first time she awoke, she said, he was in bed with her and touching her on the outside of her clothing. She told him to stop and to get out of the room, which he did, she said.
But he returned when she got up to use a bathroom, and he exposed himself to her in the bathroom and tried to get her to perform an oral sex act, she told the court.
She again refused, she said, and went and told two friends who were still awake and partying to keep him out of the room where she and her sister were sleeping. She said the sister remained asleep throughout the assault.
Portillo allegedly returned to her a third time in the night and molested her with his hands.
She said she then decided to get a ride home rather than stay there any longer, and she told her parents about the matter the next morning.
On cross-examination by public defender Charles Oppelt, the alleged victim said she had made statements about what had happened to a female investigator from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department and to other investigators at the Children’s Center in Joplin.
She also testified that Portillo had been drinking with a couple of male friends before coming home to the house and had continued drinking beer there.
At the time of his arrest, the Sheriff’s Department identified Portillo as an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who had been in the United States for eight years. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were notified of his arrest, and a detainer was placed on him, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Translator
A translator was present in the courtroom for Wednesday’s hearing to assist the defendant in understanding what was being said by attorneys, the judge and the witness.
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