A California firefighter was ordered to face six felony child abuse charges by a superior court judge at the end of a preliminary hearing last September. The trial date was set for this week, but has been delayed two months.
Raul Licon Jr., pleads not-guilty to charges that he sexually abused a boy over a two-year period, starting when the child was fourteen, in 2009.
The alleged victim said that he was 8 years old when Raul Licon Jr. married a female relation and entered the boy’s life. The boy claimed to be abused between the ages of 14 and 16, the alleged incidents occurring in a San Marcos home and on family vacations.
The boy said he became suicidal in late 2011, “because I felt trapped” and “I couldn’t get out of the events and they kept occurring.” He said that he carved the words MISERY and FREAK into his own body using a box cutter; it was after he was taken to hospital that he revealed the alleged abuse.
Raul Licon Jr. was arrested in March 2012; he immediately posted $250,000 bond and has been at liberty since.
Private defense attorney Richard Layon aggressively challenged the credibility of the alleged victim. The attorney suggested that the boy had a “grudge” against Raul Licon and that his claims of abuse are “fantasy.”
The alleged victim turned 18-years-old recently, and now appears taller than the accused, Raul Licon Jr., who is 39.
Trial was set to begin this week, but it was delayed until March 18, in San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse, in Vista.
Image: Defense atty Rick Layon and Raul Licon Jr. Photo by Weatherston.
A California firefighter was ordered to face six felony child abuse charges by a superior court judge at the end of a preliminary hearing last September. The trial date was set for this week, but has been delayed two months.
Raul Licon Jr., pleads not-guilty to charges that he sexually abused a boy over a two-year period, starting when the child was fourteen, in 2009.
The alleged victim said that he was 8 years old when Raul Licon Jr. married a female relation and entered the boy’s life. The boy claimed to be abused between the ages of 14 and 16, the alleged incidents occurring in a San Marcos home and on family vacations.
The boy said he became suicidal in late 2011, “because I felt trapped” and “I couldn’t get out of the events and they kept occurring.” He said that he carved the words MISERY and FREAK into his own body using a box cutter; it was after he was taken to hospital that he revealed the alleged abuse.
Raul Licon Jr. was arrested in March 2012; he immediately posted $250,000 bond and has been at liberty since.
Private defense attorney Richard Layon aggressively challenged the credibility of the alleged victim. The attorney suggested that the boy had a “grudge” against Raul Licon and that his claims of abuse are “fantasy.”
The alleged victim turned 18-years-old recently, and now appears taller than the accused, Raul Licon Jr., who is 39.
Trial was set to begin this week, but it was delayed until March 18, in San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse, in Vista.
Image: Defense atty Rick Layon and Raul Licon Jr. Photo by Weatherston.