2nd retrial of Grandpa Ping starts

»Prosecution: Case of old man who sexually assaulted little girl
»Defense: Terrible story about false accusations

The second retrial began yesterday of Jose Ilo Santos, a 63-year-old man accused of sexually abusing a then-7-year-old girl at his residence in Tanapag in 2011.

When Saipan Tribune left the Superior Court yesterday at 4pm, Dr. Chad Lowe, a former physician at the Commonwealth Health Center, has just started with his testimony.

Lowe, who is now working in Portland, Oregon, is the government’s first witness. Lowe was then-assigned at CHC’s pediatrics and internal medicine sections when she examined the alleged victim.

In the government’s opening statements, assistant attorney general Emily Cohen said this case is about an old man who sexually assaulted a little girl.

Cohen said defendant Santos is an old man that the little girl trusted and called Grandpa Ping.

Cohen said the then-60-year-old Santos sexually assaulted the girl twice and that the latest incident had caused her so much pain.

The prosecutor said when the mother learned about the sexual assault she went to the police and brought her daughter to the hospital.

Cohen said the doctor’s examination showed that the girl was indeed sexually assaulted.

In the defense’s opening statements, assistant public defender Michael Sato, counsel for Santos, said this is a case about false accusations.

Sato said Santos is a nice old man and that the girl is just like a granddaughter to him.

Sato described the government’s case as “a terrible story” that has a lot of unanswered questions.

In October 2012, the jury found Santos guilty of two counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree.

In March 2013, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho sentenced the defendant to the maximum of 60 years in prison, to be served without the possibility of parole.

Santos appealed to the CNMI Supreme Court.

In December 2014, the high court then ruled that the trial court abused its discretion by permitting the victim advocate to accompany the girl at the witness stand. The high court reversed the convictions and ordered a new jury trial.

A retrial was held in March 2015. But Camacho declared a mistrial after the jury was left with only five members.

One juror refused to attend the trial while another, a Corrections officer, was disqualified for not disclosing that he knows Santos and has been seeing him regularly at the Department of Corrections.

The second retrial commenced yesterday. Camacho is presiding over the jury trial.