Jury holds fate of baby-sitter in sexual abuse case

Kim Smith

Thursday, July 11, 2002 | 8:51 a.m.

A jury is deciding the fate of a 34-year-old man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy he was baby-sitting.

Victor Manuel Rivera faces eight counts of sexual abuse of a minor under 14 in connection with alleged incidents that reportedly took place between October 2000 and January 2001.

If convicted Rivera could receive eight life sentences.

According to authorities, Rivera offered to begin baby-sitting the boy in June 2000 after learning from the boy's father -- his employer -- that he was having difficulty finding a full-time baby-sitter.

The allegations of abuse came to light six months later, when the boy's parents noticed that someone had drawn on the boy's body with a marker.

The boy told his parents, and later jurors, that Rivera forced him to submit to at least 40 sex acts, some of them as Rivera's 10-year-old son watched.

Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday that while they could convict Rivera based solely on the boy's testimony, there is other evidence of Rivera's guilt.

A doctor testified that an examination of the boy revealed signs of repeated sexual abuse, and Rivera's son told police he saw at least five acts, DiGiacomo reminded the jurors.

While they could have charged Rivera with 40 counts, they opted to charge him with eight because those would be the easiest to prove, DiGiacomo said.

Defense attorney Greg Denue told jurors that not even the prosecutors believe the alleged victim was raped 40 times.

"You bet your bottom dollar that if they believed it they would have charged him with all of those counts," Denue said.

Once the police heard the alleged victim's story, they stopped investigating, Denue said.

Rivera took the stand, but did little to protest his innocence, Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks reminded the jury.

"Not one time did he say 'I didn't do it.' Not one time did he say 'That kid is a lying.' Not one time did he say 'My son lied,' " Hendricks said.

Hendricks described Rivera as a "predator" who preyed on the 8-year-old, mistakenly believing his son would never testify against him.

"That was his fatal error," Hendricks said.