Houma man pleads innocence from witness stand before jury convicts him of raping 3 girls
A Houma man took the stand Friday to plead his innocence before a jury found him guilty of raping three young girls.
Juan Paz Zuniga, 43, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without probation or parole after his conviction on three counts of first-degree rape. State District Judge David Arceneaux set Zuniga's formal sentencing for Sept. 14.
Before the four-day trial ended, Zuniga looked at the 12 jurors and told them he would have fleed back to his native Guadalajara, Mexico, if he were guilty. Instead, Zuniga said, he stayed and faced the accusations head-on, saying he is innocent.
"For me to do something like that, I'd leave. Nobody would see me, you know, I'm here facing everybody," he said. "I'd go back to my country."
Zuniga said his wife worked a low-wage job and had an injury. She only made $1,000 a month and the family relied on his earnings. His bail bond was $1 million, and he paid 12% of the amount so he could continue working to provide for his wife and children.
"I'm pretty sure I could have started a new life with that in Mexico," he testified.
From the trial: Asked who had raped her, 11-year-old points across Houma courtroom and says 'That man'
'Monster' or caught in family feud?: Trial begins for Houma man charged with raping 3 girls
In closing arguments, defense attorney Jim Holt raised questions about statements one of the girls made during her testimony a day earlier.
" 'I'm here because he raped me,' " Holt said, repeating what the girl had said. "11-year-olds don't talk like that."
Holt argued the prosecution was built on testimony but no physical evidence, such as DNA, video or medical reports.
"We're saying the children are saying what the parents told them to say," Holt said. "I believe once the girls get older there will be a crisis of consciousness and the truth will come forward."
Terrebonne Parish Assistant District Attorney Amanda Mustin countered that not all victims come forward right away. In the months between the rapes and the victims coming forward, such evidence often isn't available — DNA is washed away, and injuries heal, she said.
"How does she know what rape is?" Mustin said of the girl's testimony. "Because she's been to counseling for four years. ... Because he [Zuniga] introduced it into her life."
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Before closing arguments, Holt called Zuniga's sister-in-law, Maria de Jesus Nieves Valeriano, to the witness stand.
Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, Valeriano said she knew Zuniga or 15 years. Her oldest daughter wasn't good at English and would meet with Zuniga most afternoons for help with her schoolwork.
Valeriano told of how her children frequented Zuniga's home and that she had the utmost trust in him.
"I have three daughters and they've spent a lot of time at thier house with Mr. Paz," she said through the interpretor. "Every time my daughters would come home, they would be happy."
Zuniga’s 2018 arrest resulted from a complaint by the suspect’s family members alleging he had sexually assaulted three relatives, all young girls, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said. The three victims, who were raped on multiple occasions, did not live with Zuniga.
During the trial, the jury watched video of the two girls' original statements to a children's advocacy worker who interviewed them and also listened to their testimony in court. The girls, now 11, were 6 or 7 at the time of the incidents, which occurred while they were visiting Zuniga's house.
The jury deliberated for just under two hours. Zuniga's wife, son and brothers sat on once side of the courtroom, the three girls and their parents on the other. All broke into tears after the guilty verdicts were read aloud.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Terrebonne Parish jury finds Houma man guilty of raping three children
