Victim testifies about alleged sexual abuse by Rojas-Antonio
Editor's note: This story contains information about the alleged sexual assault of a child. If you know or suspect that anyone under 18 is being sexually or physically abused, call the Texas child abuse hotline at 1-800-252-5400.
A Wichita Falls man accused of child sexual assault and indecency will not testify in his own defense during his trial this week in 89th District Court.
Pedro Rojas-Antonio, 44, took the stand Wednesday morning to say through an interpreter that he did not wish to provide testimony.
Earlier in court Wednesday, the victim, now a teenager, testified for the second time in the trial.
She told the jury about the sexual abuse she alleges she suffered from the ages of 7 to 11.
Rojas-Antonio is charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 and one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact in connection with Nov. 1, 2018, incidents, court records show.
He is also charged with two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact in connection with incidents Nov. 11, 2020.
Aggravated sexual assault is punishable by up to life in prison. Indecency with a child carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
Rojas-Antonio has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He is suspected of abusing the child when she stayed in a relative's home over the weekend, according to allegations in court documents.
He was arrested after the girl made an outcry of sexual abuse to a school counselor.
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Rojas-Antonio was being held Wednesday in the Wichita County Detention Center on $1.05 million bond, according to online jail records. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement also has a detainer on him.
The victim told jurors that he came into the bedroom she stayed in, hurting her and assaulting her.
She felt disgusted by the things he did to her, she testified. When she would kick him or tell him to stop, he would beg for "five more minutes."
He bribed her with money when she threatened to tell about the abuse, she testified.
During one incident when she was in the fifth grade, a friend called her, but she didn't take the call because of what Rojas-Antonio was doing, she testified.
Later, she called her friend back and said she was busy at the time, she told the jury.
And Rojas-Antonio told her not to tell anyone, she testified.
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But there were good times when she was not being sexually assaulted, she testified. Rojas-Antonio and her relative would have nice times together.
“That’s why I always thought it was love because he would do it and then he would just pick her up like nothing happened," she testified.
She told the jury she liked Rojas-Antonio but “not in a sexual way." She felt affection for him as for a relative.
Jurors listened raptly while Brook Grona-Robb, Special Victims Unit chief at the Wichita County District Attorney's Office, questioned the victim.
Defense attorney Michael Valverde asked the victim to clarify whether she told her friend what was happening to her.
The victim testified that she just told her friend something came up, and she did not tell him what was happening at the time of his call because she felt disgusted by it.
A jury was selected Monday, and opening statements and testimony for the state's case took place Tuesday.
A child abuse expert is expected to testify Tuesday afternoon for the prosecution.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Victim testifies against alleged sexual abuser Pedro Rojas-Antonio
