***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 02, 2015

JURY CONVICTS CHILD MOLESTER AFTER VICTIM FACES HER ABUSER

Media Contact: Curtis T. Hill, Jr. (574) 296-1888

On Wednesday, July 1, 2015, a jury in Elkhart Superior Court 3 returned verdicts of guilty against 46 year old Lino Rocha, on charges of Child Molesting, a Class A felony, Attempted Child Molesting, a Class A felony, and Dissemination of Matter Harmful to Minors, a Class D felony. The jurors arrived at their verdicts after approximately one hour of deliberation, and upon hearing testimony from the victim, who recounted instances of sexual abuse at the hands of her uncle when she was 5 years old, during the summer of 2005. The abuse occurred when she was in the care of her aunt and uncle, whose home she frequented on a daily basis for babysitting while her parents were at work. Jurors heard from Rocha’s victim, who indicated that she had lived with what the defendant did to her for years, in part because the defendant perpetrated these acts upon her at an age when she did not know it was abuse.

Jurors also heard from the victim’s parents, a forensic interviewer from the Child and Family Advocacy Center, and a responding officer from the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, among others, who all participated in the investigation that led to the convictions. Their testimony enlightened the jurors as to the process of disclosure, and the phenomena associated with delays in that process that often take months, or even years, for victims to work through.

A sentencing hearing for this case is scheduled for the 13th day of August, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. in the Elkhart County Correctional Complex. Rocha is currently being held without bond pending sentencing. The case was tried by Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Katelan Doyle and Peter Soldato.

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“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”