‘Grandpa Ping’ found guilty of sexual assault

After deliberating less than an hour yesterday morning, the jury reached a unanimous verdict finding Jose Ilo Santos, also known as “Grandpa Ping,” guilty of all two charges for sexually assaulting a then-7-year-old girl at his house in Tanapag in 2011.

The six jurors, including former representative Ramon Basa, deliberated for an hour on Tuesday and resumed their deliberations yesterday at 8:15am.

The jurors found the 63-year-old Santos guilty of two counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree.

Santos remained calm when a court staff read the verdict. The victim, who is now 11 years old, was in tears when her mother cried and hugged her shortly after the verdict was read.

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho, who presided over the jury trial, set the sentencing for Jan. 13, 2015 at 9am.

Camacho ordered the Office of Adult Probation to prepare a pre-sentence investigation report on or before Dec. 11, 2014.

Santos remains in jail after failing to post bail.

Assistant attorney general Shannon Foley in an interview said she’s just very impressed with the people of the CNMI on the jury today.

“I think they came to the only and the just conclusion,” Foley said. Assistant attorney general Emily Cohen assisted Foley at the trial.

Chief public defender Douglas Hartig and assistant public defender Michael Sato, counsel for Santos, refused to comment.

Chief prosecutor Leonardo Rapadas said they’re glad that the jury looked at all the evidence and that they have a strong victim.

“We want to make sure that the victims have a voice,” Rapadas said.

The chief prosecutor said when they help sexual assault victims they assure that they have someone to have their back.

“We hope that victims come out. And we hope [this] sends a message to more victims out there that they need to be strong,” he said.

Rapadas said there are a lot of organizations that help victims to be strong.

The second retrial commenced on Monday. The prosecution called four witnesses, including the victim. The defense did not call any witness.

In October 2012, the jury found Santos guilty of the same charges.

In March 2013, 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 trial.

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

The girl testified on Tuesday how the then-60-year-old Santos sexually assaulted her three times in separate incidents when she was 7 years old.