Man sentenced for having sex with teen

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man was sentenced after admitting to police that he had sex with a 12-year-old girl on multiple occasions.

Juan Bernal, 27, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty to second-degree child rape. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Carole Highland and defense attorney Rafael Gonzales and sentenced Bernal to the statutory minimum of 6.5 years in prison. Bernal was initially charged with two counts of child rape, but a charge were dropped in a plea agreement between Highland and Gonzales.

On Jan. 18 a man contacted Moses Lake police to report his 12-year-old granddaughter was raped by Bernal. He said he had known Bernal for two years and considers him a close family friend and “basically like a son,” according to police records.

He stated on Jan. 17 he brought Bernal to his residence to watch a sporting event and Bernal spent the night. At 10 p.m. the man left Bernal and his granddaughter in the front room of the home. After about 20 minutes the man got up to use the restroom and noticed Bernal was not in the chair he last saw him in. He said he witnessed Bernal having intercourse with his granddaughter. The man struck and knocked Bernal to the ground. The girl’s grandfather said he told Bernal to leave and Bernal gathered a few of his belongings and left.

After Bernal left the property, he reportedly called the man to apologize for what he had done. The man’s neighbor/friend, who introduced Bernal to the reporting party, reported receiving a text message from Bernal after the incident in which Bernal stated, “he (Bernal) was a bad person.”

Upon being interviewed by police, the victim admitted to having sexual contact with Bernal. She stated that Bernal began inappropriately touching her months before the incident on Jan. 17. The girl’s grandfather told police she had admitted to him that Bernal had sex with her five times since late November 2015 or early December 2015.

Police applied for and were granted a search warrant for the office/residence Bernal had been living at, but were unable to find him there. Officers were able to find and arrest Bernal at a bus station in Moses Lake two days after the sexual assault.

“Bernal admitted to having sex with (the victim) on multiple occasions and he apologized for this,” wrote a officer. “Bernal also admitted during the interview that he was not an American citizen. I contacted ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers and notified them of his arrest.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.