CA - Novato man gets probation, faces deportation, in child molest case

By Nels Johnson
Marin Independent Journal
Posted: 08/28/2012 06:40:23 PM PDT

A 28-year-old Novato man was placed on probation Tuesday after a plea bargain stemming from child molestation charges after he was found in a car with a 14-year-old girl.

Idelman Ornan Vasquez, an undocumented immigrant, now faces deportation, according to his acting legal counsel, Malcolm Feied of Alameda.

Feied, sitting in for a colleague, said he did not know the specifics of the case.

Vasquez was accused of statutory rape, lewd acts with a child and other charges, but scored "on the lower side" of a probation department risk assessment, Judge Andrew Sweet reported.

"I think the probation department makes an appropriate recommendation," the judge said. He did not elaborate on details.

Judge Sweet placed Vasquez on probation for five years, ordered restitution to the victim as determined by probation officials, forbade any contact with the victim and imposed a variety of court fees. The victim was not in court.

Vasquez, who listened to an interpeter as the judge imposed the sentence, has been in county jail since April 13 after his arrest in Novato's Green Point neighborhood. A group of acquaintances watched the proceedings from the audience.

Police were alerted by a resident who reported two vehicles parked at the end of Alpine Road after midnight.

Sheriff's deputies found Vasquez and the girl in a car there, and further investigation led to the arrest of Vasquez on suspicion of sex crimes including unlawful intercourse with a minor, oral sex with a minor, and penetration with a foreign object.

Novato man gets probation, faces deportation, in child molest case - Marin Independent Journal