Trial Begins For Man Accused Of Molesting 3 Laguna Niguel Girls

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA — A 69-year-old man molested three girls over about a 10-year period while living with the alleged victims in Laguna Niguel, a prosecutor told jurors Monday, while the defendant's attorney said evidence in his trial will show he was innocent.

Catalino Avelino is charged with eight counts of lewd acts with a minor younger than 14. The alleged molestation occurred from September 2006 through August 2013 for one victim, from September through January of 2015 for another alleged victim and from September 2006 through October 2010 for a third alleged victim, according to prosecutors.

Avelino was dating a relative of the three girls, two of whom are sisters, according to Deputy District Attorney Heidi Garrel. One of the alleged victims is a cousin of the other two girls.

One of the girls said she was molested starting when she was 7 and until she was 13, Garrel said. Another said the molestation occurred from when she was 5 until she was 13, the prosecutor added.

Another alleged victim said she was molested from when she was 9 through 13 years old, Garrel said.

"He would take her into his room a couple of times a week," Garrel said of the defendant. "He would put on pornography while undressing her."

After one of the girls came forward in November of 2015, the defendant "admits that on multiple occasions to touching these three girls," Garrel said.

Avelino allegedly told Orange County sheriff's investigators that he "can sleep happy that night because he felt bad, but now he told the police the truth," Garrel said.

The defendant also allegedly wrote an "apology letter" to his accusers, Garrel said.

Avelino's attorney, Sarah Hefling, said that the "innocent behavior" of her client became "sinister" when the victims began "reaching for a memory."

Avelino is "not guilty. He did not touch ... any of these girls," Hefling said.

Hefling accused sheriff's investigators of a "very accusatory" interrogation in which "they were intent on hearing what they wanted to hear."

The defense attorney said her client is "not a sophisticated man," and that he "can't really write or read." His oral comprehension is at a second-grade level and his reading level is at the kindergarten level, Hefling said.

The defendant's initial accuser came forward to authorities when she was 15 years old and "found herself in the school counselor's office," Hefling said.

Later, she and the other two girls got together and discussed the case, which they were instructed not to do, Hefling said.

The girls apparently didn't like Avelino and disapproved of his relationship with a relative of theirs, Hefling said.

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