A June 12 trial date was confirmed Monday for a Riverside restaurant employee accused of sexually assaulting a child in a bathroom stall.
Avimael Lopez, 34, was arrested last June after he was allegedly caught in the act of molesting the victim, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, authorities said.
During a pretrial hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz set trial proceedings for a week from Monday after receiving acknowledgements from the prosecution and defense that both would endeavor to be prepared to move forward at that time.
Lopez is charged with one count each of lewd acts on a minor and oral copulation of a child under 10 years old. He's being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.
According to Riverside police, the victim was with her mother at a fast food establishment in the 1700 block of University Avenue, just off Chicago Avenue, and went into the women's restroom alone in the early afternoon of June 6, 2016. The defendant followed the child into a stall and sexually assaulted her, police alleged.
When the girl failed to emerge after a few minutes, her mother went to check on her and allegedly encountered Lopez committing the assault, prompting the woman to call 911, according to investigators.
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Detectives from the police department's Sexual Assault & Child Abuse Unit were sent to the location and interviewed all parties, after which the defendant was jailed.
Lopez has no documented prior felony convictions.
