OAKLAND — A young girl who kept quiet about the sexual abuse she endured for years received some justice Friday: The man whom she considered an uncle was convicted of 12 counts related to sexual assault.
A jury found Jaime Rivera, 53, guilty of multiple counts of sexual abuse, including rape, rape of a minor, forcible oral copulation of a minor and continuous sexual abuse. According to the prosecution, the abuse began on “Jane Doe 1” when she was 12 years old and lasted for several years.
After deliberating for about two days, the jury returned guilty verdicts late Friday afternoon, convicting Rivera on nearly every count as charged by the prosecution. The jury found a lesser charge, attempted rape, for count 12.
Doe 1 was in sixth grade when Rivera, a family friend whom she called “uncle” and he called her his niece, first began to abuse her. Rivera went into the girl’s room at her San Francisco home, told her she was beautiful, removed her clothing and began abusing her, according to the prosecution.
When the girl’s family moved to Oakland, she noticed Rivera give more attention to her littler sister, so she made him a deal: She won’t say a word, as long as he left her sisters alone.
That changed on June 7, 2017. Doe’s younger sister, 19 at the time, lived with the defendant in his apartment in Oakland after the rest of her family moved to Portland, Oregon, and she didn’t want to leave the Bay Area.
“Jane Doe 2,” Doe 1’s sister, came home that morning and fell asleep on the couch at Rivera’s apartment. She was awakened to find Rivera on top of her, as he pulled off her bottoms, and then began sexually assaulting her, prosecutor Tim Wellman said.
Doe 2 was able to get away, and eventually police were called. Then, allegations surfaced about her sister, who had endured years of abuse by Rivera.
The defense argued that there was no DNA evidence that linked Rivera to the alleged crimes. Defense attorney Stefan Schweitzer also questioned in his opening statements why Doe 1 did not warn her sister about the abuse when she moved in with the defendant.
Rivera is expected to be sentenced June 29 and faces time in prison for his convictions.