Update (Saturday, July 22):
A Tejano singer who was found guilty on one count of sexual assault of a child has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Jesse Farias was found not guilty on two other counts of sexual assault of a child on Friday night after a Bexar County jury deliberated for several hours.
He was arrested and charged in 2021. Farias was facing a maximum punishment of up to 20 years.
Original:
The singer of a Tejano band in San Antonio took the witness stand at his trial and denied touching an underaged girl inappropriately.
Jesse Farias, of Tropa F, is on trial on a charge of sexual assault of a child.
A female relative of Farias has accused him of touching her repeatedly and inappropriately.
On the witness stand Thursday, Farias testified that he would pick up the girl after school, along with his children, and drop her off at her home.
When asked by attorneys if he ever touched the girl, he replied: “That did not happen at no point in time, whether I was in the truck or in the van. I never touched her thigh, never touched her breast.”
Farias also denied asking the girl if she wanted to see his penis and denied ever taking off her pajamas, claims that she made to the police.
The girl testified earlier this week that the alleged inappropriate touching started when she was 16 at family gatherings, after school and after a sleepover. She is now 18.
She testified that Farias was “like a father to me”
When the girl was cross-examined by the defense on Tuesday, she began to visibly shake and cry under a barrage of questions. She would later collapse in the courtroom, and the trial was canceled for the rest of that day.
A son and a daughter of Farias refuted claims by the girl that the defendant would pick her up after school alone.
Because this is a sexual assault case, KSAT 12 News will not be disclosing the victim’s identity.
The jury is deliberating Friday.
If Farias is found guilty, he faces a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Also on KSAT.com:
Testimony expected to end soon in Tejano singer’s trialTrial to begin Friday for Tejano singer charged with sexual assault of a child