A Prince George man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jenkins reached the verdict Friday at the Prince George courthouse in the case of Rui Louis Ventura Araujo, 47.
Recounting testimony heard in court during a two-day trial this week, Jenkins said the girl was living at home with her paternal grandparents and her grandmother's younger sister, all of them elderly.
In the early afternoon of July 25, the two women - one an admitted alcoholic - went to a local bar where Araujo invited them for a drink. Neither had ever met Araujo before but after several beers he helped one of the two, who suffers from health problems, get into their vehicle parked behind the bar.
In the words of one of the women, "he seemed like a nice, respectable man," and Araujo was invited to their home. When they arrived at about mid-afternoon, Araujo, the two women and the grandfather gathered in the living room for a drink while the girl went to another room in the back of the house.
Shortly after one of the women went to the kitchen, she heard the girl yell "no, stop!" She ran into hall where she saw Araujo had cornered her in the hall and his hands were underneath her dress while the girl was crying and had tears in her eyes.
When asked what he was doing, Araujo said he was admiring the girl's dress and the woman told him to get out of the house. The girl later told her he pulled the top of the dress towards him to look down the top and had hiked up the bottom.
Both of the adults sitting in the living also said they clearly heard the girl's cry for Araujo to stop and Jenkins said he found the girl's testimony consistent with that of the adults.
Calling his actions "completely inappropriate" and done only with a sexual purpose in mind, Jenkins dismissed Araujo's claim he was merely admiring the dress and found him guilty of sexual assault and sexual interference of a person under 16.
"One can admire a seven-year-old's dress without touching it," Jenkins said.
Jenkins added there was also evidence, that was not contradicted, that Araujo had also been touching and fondling the girl's underwear found in the laundry after the assault.
Araujo was also found guilty of breaching a recognizance by being in the presence of someone under 16 years old. A pre-sentence report with forensic and psychiatric components was ordered and is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Court records show Araujo has a previous conviction for sexual interference of a person under 16, for a June 2003 incident, for which he received four months in jail and two years probation.
