Man Convicted Of Raping His Pre-Teen Niece

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — After a four-day trial, Willian Serrano-Parada was given a life sentence Friday in a Gwinnett County courtroom for raping his pre-teen niece. Serrano-Parada was sentenced to life in confinement with 40 years on probation to follow the life sentence.

Before delivering his sentence, Judge Hutchinson said, “Children who are victims suffer consequences for the rest of their lives and that’s what makes these crimes the most terrible. Child molestation takes something from a child that can never be replaced.”

He went on to explain his sentence by saying his intention was to ensure Serrano-Parada “would never be able to do this to another child.”

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Evidence at trial was presented that around midnight on Feb. 16, 2017, 14-year-old girl went into her father’s room to tell him that her aunt’s husband, Willian Serrano-Parada, had raped and molested her on seven to eight occasions over a period of time ranging from when she was 7-10 years in age. She also disclosed that during some of the encounters, Serrano-Parada had also performed sexual acts on his stepdaughter in her presence.

The following day, the girl's father and mother went to confront Serrano-Parada and his wife, the victim’s aunt on her mother’s side. Serrano-Parada denied the allegations and an argument ensued between Serrano-Parada and the victim's father and police were called. The case was referred to Detective Jonathan Leach with GCPD’s SVU. Detective Leach encountered a great deal of resistance from Serrano-Parada’s wife when attempting to interview her daughter to see whether he could verify or dispel the girl’s claims that she was also a victim. Four days after the confrontation, Serrano-Parada’s stepdaughter was interviewed however she denied any and all abuse at that time.

Leach conducted a forensic interview with the victim where she was able to describe in detail each of the six separate acts of sexual abuse which eventually formed the basis of the indictment in addition to a number of other unsuccessful attempts that Serrano-Parada made at molesting her and her cousin while she was at Serrano-Parada’s residence in his and his wife’s care.

She was able to describe a particular incident occurring when she was 9 in which she was unable to sit down after having been raped by Serrano-Parada on his kitchen table. She explained that when her father came to pick her up that she was unable to walk and therefore he had to carry her down the stairs to his car. At trial, her father testified that he recalled her having this strange injury but when he questioned her about what happened Serrano-Parada explained that she had fallen and hurt her leg. Other acts included oral sodomy, masturbating in the presence of both girls, and placing his tongue in her mouth.

At trial, with most of Serrano-Parada’s family watching in the courtroom, his stepdaughter testified consistently with her previous statement that Serrano-Parada never molested her or her cousin. Serrano-Parada’s defense centered largely around the lack of access Serrano-Parada actually had to the victim and the lack of any other corroborating evidence other than A.H.’s testimony.

At trial, the State was able to introduce testimony from the victim's best friend and her cousin on her father’s side who did recall that she had disclosed to them when she was 11 that she had been sexually abused by Serrano-Parada but that she had made them promise not to tell anyone.

During closing argument, the State argued that unlike the victim, Serrano-Parada’s stepdaughter did not realistically have the freedom to be honest about being the victim of sexual abuse because it would devastate her mother and put her family in financial ruin if her stepfather was incarcerated.

Photo courtesy Gwinnett County Police Department