Jury trial of man accused of sex abuse of a minor begins

The jury trial of a man accused of inappropriately touching a minor began with a jury selection yesterday morning in Superior Court, followed in the afternoon with the opening statements of both the prosecutor and defense.

The defendant, Venitus “Vince” Ruwaath, has already pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

In his opening statements, Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds recalled the incident to the eight jurors, saying that the victim was 11 or 12 years old at the time of the incident in 2020 at Ruwaath’s residence. That was when, as she was watching YouTube videos in bed, Ruwaath allegedly fondled the minor’s breast. The victim said she did not know what was happening and did not tell anyone, but months later, Hinds said, the memory of the incident continued to linger, and the victim realized what had happened and how wrong it was for the defendant to touch her. Hinds said the victim will testify, along with the prosecution’s other witnesses.

The first witness called to the stand was Department of Public Safety detective Shannon Dela Cruz, who described her the interview with the alleged victim. She was cross-examined by defense counsel Karie Comstock’s co-counsel, Emily Thomsen.

In Comstock’s opening statements, she said that the defense’ witnesses are Ruwaath’s wife, who will say they’ve been together for eight years and that they have six children together, and that the victim used to come over to their home regularly and treated them like family.

Comstock said that Ruwaath’s wife will say that the victim never gave any indication that she was uncomfortable around Ruwaath and that she continued to visit them numerous times in the months after the victim reported she was molested.

The trial will continue today with more witnesses from both sides.

Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan is presiding over the case.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, the court found probable cause last June 10, 2022, to charge Ruwaath based on the testimony of a DPS detective. Ruwaath pleaded not guilty during his arraignment before presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja on June 13, 2022.

The complaint filed against Ruwaath stated that police received a walk-in complaint of a sexual abuse of a minor case on March 27, 2022, made by the victim’s father.

During a forensic interview with the minor, the victim told authorities that the incident happened sometime in June 2020.

At a bail hearing last June 3, 2022, the court imposed a $20,000 cash bail on Ruwaath and remanded him to the custody of the Department of Corrections.