Man Pleads Guilty to Multiple Counts of Lewd Act on a Child

SAN BERNARDINO:(VVNG.com)- A 53-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man pleaded guilty Wednesday to five counts of lewd act upon a child by force.

Joaquin Gomez faces 50 years in state prison when he is sentenced July 17 in Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court. Deputy District Attorney Karen Schmauss, who is assigned to the Major Crimes Against Children Prosecution Unit, prosecuted the case.

On Aug. 22, 2013, the victim’s mother came to the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department and asked to speak to a detective. She showed Det. Rafael Ixco a black iPhone 4 which had a video actively playing on it. The video was of a young child having sexual intercourse with an adult male. No faces were visible.

The mother told Det. Ixco that she recognized the voices on the video as being those of Joaquin Gomez (her sister’s boyfriend) and her 5-year-old daughter. The videos were shot in Gomez’ home and inside his truck. There were more videos on the iPhone depicting other sexual conduct along with close-ups of the child’s genitalia.

The mother told deputies that her older sister had been dating Gomez for about seven years. Her sister would often babysit the victim who would sometimes spend the night.

On Aug. 21, 2013, Gomez accidentally left his iPhone at the mother’s residence. The phone began ringing in the middle of the night. She picked it up and saw a picture of her daughter as his screen saver. She looked further through the phone and discovered the videos of her daughter.

The victim was examined by a forensic pediatrician at the Children’s Assessment Center and found to have injuries to her genitals consistent with sexual intercourse. She told a forensics interviewer that Gomez had put his private into her private parts “lots of times.” He also took videos of her privates and once she took a video of her own private.

Gomez told her to never tell anyone.

source: San Bernardino County District Attorney