SL man pleads not guilty

A Soap Lake man accused of raping two girls pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Grant County Superior Court.

Troy Romero Rivera, 30, was charged Jan. 10, 2019, with two counts of first-degree child rape, after Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a cold sexual assault call in 2016, which was forwarded the same year to the office’s major crimes division.

A woman told deputies the girls were caught watching pornography while at Rivera’s home, records stated, and the girls told investigators Rivera watched pornography with them and had sexually assaulted them. The assaults occurred on several occasions between 2013 and 2016 when the girls weren’t together.

A warrant was issued for Rivera’s arrest in January 2019, but he wasn’t jailed until Feb. 22, 2021.

As of Wednesday, Rivera remained in the Grant County Jail with a $75,000 bond.

His trial is scheduled for April 28.