WOODLAND — The alleged victim in a Davis child-molestation case took the witness stand Tuesday in Yolo Superior Court, testifying in the trial of her former day-care provider.
While she didn’t recognize Eduardo Letelier inside Judge Daniel Maguire’s courtroom, the girl said it was “Teo” — her nickname for Letelier — who molested her in the bathroom of his Braddock Court home on July 13, 2016, when she was 4 years old.
Eduardo Letelier. Enterprise file photo
“Teo put … I’m too shy,” the girl, now 5, said under questioning from Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Melinda Aiello. “Teo put his … hmm … pee-pee in my mouth.”
Flanked by a victim advocate and comfort dog from the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, the girl — whose name The Enterprise is withholding because she is an alleged molest victim — recalled that Letelier “brushed my teeth … and then he did that.” No one else witnessed the incident, she added, because “he only wanted him to see.”
Although the girl initially disclosed the alleged incident to her father, on Tuesday her recollection was that “I only told my mom.” She also said her older brother brushed his teeth at the day-care center that day as well; her father testified last week that the boy was at a summer program in East Davis at the time.
Letelier, 44, has pleaded not guilty to the abuse allegations, as well as a count of resisting arrest. His attorney, Michael Chastaine, in opening statements last week described the girl’s mother, a human development graduate student, as being “obsessed with child abuse.”
The mother was expected to testify today.
During his cross-examination of the girl, Chastaine showed her a Sonicare toothbrush collected as evidence from the Letelier home, which the defendant and his wife have operated as a day-care center since 2001. She said it was the one she had used.
Examined for DNA, the brush showed genetic material from Letelier’s adult daughter along with a minor contributor; the alleged victim could not be excluded as a possible contributor.
Chastaine also showed the girl a book, “It’s NOT the Stork,” which she identified as one her mother frequently reads to her.
“It’s about babies,” she said. Asked whether her mother had talked with her about coming to court, the girl said she had.
“Did she tell you what to say?” Chastaine asked.
“Mm-hm. Yeah,” the girl replied, but did not elaborate. The mother testified Wednesday she had instructed her daughter to only speak when asked a question and to tell the truth, but did not influence her testimony.
Aiello briefly questioned the girl a second time, asking, “Are you telling the truth?”
“Yes,” the girl replied.
“Did this happen?”
“Yes.”
Davis police Detective Janell Bestpitch later testified regarding the initial investigation into the case, during which about 15 children — current and former clients of the day-care center — underwent forensic interviews. None raised any similar allegations, she said.
Resisting arrest?
Jurors also heard this week from two Davis police officers who took Letelier into custody on the evening of July 14, 2016. Both said Letelier tried to flee into a neighboring back yard as they announced their presence to serve a search warrant.
“I saw him look at me. I told him to come here, and he disobeyed my command,” testified Detective Ryan Bellamy, whose body camera captured the confrontation.
Shown in court, the video shows Letelier’s wife, Ximena, come into view on a rear patio as Bellamy walks up the side yard of the Braddock Court home. “Hola, donde Eduardo?” Bellamy says to her.
Suddenly, Bellamy shouts “Runner! He’s running!” and leaps over a low fence toward a gate along the back fence, where Letelier is facing them with his hands raised in the air.
Four officers eventually gather and force Letelier face-down onto the ground, cuffing his hands behind his back. Detective Justin Raymond acknowledged punching Letelier three times in the face, saying he did so because Letelier had thrust his hands into the front waistband of his shorts.
Raymond said Letelier was accused of a serious crime, “and I know that people do desperate and dangerous things when they’re put in that situation.”
Chastaine says Letelier suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and did not have the ability to run. He also alleges that officers used excessive force in arresting his client, noting there was no arrest warrant issued and Letelier, who has no history of weapon use or violence, appeared to be surrendering.
Raymond denied Chastaine’s assertion that it was after Letelier was handcuffed that the officer threw the punches, which were not caught on camera. Rather, he said, he was shoving Letelier’s shoulders against the ground to prevent him from rolling to his side.
“The video isn’t going to show some things, and that’s one of them,” Raymond said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene