By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Jose Luis Izaguirre

WARSAW — Jury members were selected Tuesday, April 20, on the first day of a three-day jury trial for a child molesting case.

Jose Luis Izaguirre, 32, Warsaw, is charged with three counts of child molesting, all level 1 felonies.

In Indiana, a Level 1 felony charge carries a 20 to 40-year prison sentence.

According to court documents, on March 29, 2019, a Child Protective Services caseworker received information that Izaguirre was having sexual intercourse with a child.

The child told the caseworker that Izaguirre began inappropriately touching them at the age of 7. The interactions turned into sexual intercourse two years later. The child said they would tell Izaguirre no but that he would hold them down and yell. They also said Izaguirre made them watch pornographic videos.

The child said the molestations continued about two times a month until February 2019.

A Warsaw Police officer spoke with Izaguirre about the allegations. Court documents state Izaguirre admitted to sexually touching and molesting the child more than 20 times. He also admitted to watching pornographic videos with them.

Seven men and six women were seated on the jury in Kosciusko Circuit Court by 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, with Judge Michael Reed presiding over the trial.

In his opening statement, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Sobek focused on the case’s details and said Izaguirre was apologetic to his wife in an interview for his alleged actions.

“(The child) will talk about sad, intimate and embarrassing details of what happened to them,” said Sobek. “This man sexually assaulted (the child) on multiple occasions.”

He said the child told a friend at school about what occurred, leading to adults and DCS’s investigation. Sobek also stated that Izaguirre’s interview with the Warsaw officer was voluntary and that he asked to speak with his wife about what happened. The interviews with the officer and Izaguirre’s wife were recorded and will be submitted as evidence.

Defense Attorney Jay Rigdon argued in his opening statement that since Izaguirre is not a native speaker of the English language, he didn’t understand his rights or what was being said in the interview with the Warsaw officer.

“The officer did not give him his rights in Spanish,” said Rigdon. “On five separate occasions, Mr. Izaguirre says he doesn’t understand.”

Rigdon further elaborated on the interview between the Warsaw officer and Izaguirre, saying that Izaguirre parroted affirmative responses to anything the detective said or asked.

“His confession wasn’t voluntary and should be given no weight,” said Rigdon. “There’s not enough evidence to convict Mr. Izaguirre beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 21, with witnesses being called for testimony.