Trial starts for Camarillo man accused of sex assaults, child's attempted murder

The trial of a Camarillo man accused of the attempted murder of a 6-year-old girl and sexual acts against two elderly women in the assisted-living facility where he worked got underway Monday.

Joel Gonzales, 28, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the four felonies and two misdemeanors for prowling and trespassing.

The prosecution and the defense both made opening statements to the newly seated jury for the trial that could take more than a month in a Ventura courtroom.

Jurors are now hearing the first phase of the case to decide whether Gonzales is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If they acquit him, the case ends. If they find him guilty, the case goes to a second phase to determine whether he was legally insane when he allegedly committed the crimes.

Prosecutor Tom Steele told the jury that the first phase comes down to one question.

"Did the defendant intend to rape and kill?" he said. "That's what you'll have to answer."

Jurors can consider the defendant's mental state in the first phase only for the limited purpose of assessing whether it allowed him to form the specific intent to commit the acts, Steele said in a brief interview during a recess in the trial.

Steele presented the chain of events that transpired almost four years ago in his opening statement, starting with the alleged assaults on Oct. 15, 2020, of two women who lived in the Royal Gardens assisted-living facility in Camarillo. One who stayed in a portion of the home for dementia patients has died, but the other who was housed in the assisted-living portion of the facility is scheduled to testify Tuesday.

Steele said the defendant, who was a caregiver at the facility, threw the latter woman on the bed in her room face first and started pulling down her undershorts. The attorney said she struggled with him, pulled an emergency cord and screamed for help.

"Ultimately, she got him off her, and he left the room," Steele said.

He alleged that Gonzales undressed the second woman and tried to rape her.

Defense counsel said the defendant was not able to perform sexually with either woman and no penetration occurred.

A day later, the defendant entered a home in Camarillo and was arrested for trespassing.

It was a relatively minor event compared to the allegations against him stemming from a physical attack the next day on the 6-year-old who was staying in the home of a relative of Gonzales for her first sleepover. The defendant allegedly squeezed the girl's neck and bashed her head against the hardwood floor before another relative who was just 16 rescued her.

Defense attorney John Taylor told the jury of the evidence he planned to present to show that his client was in the grips of psychosis and delusions at the time of the crimes. A court-appointed psychologist who has evaluated Gonzales is scheduled to testify.

The defendant had no motive to rape or kill, he said. He didn't know one of the women, and he cared for the other one dearly, Taylor said. In general, his client didn't know the 6-year-old girl, he said.

Under California jury instructions, defendants claiming legal insanity must prove it is more likely than not they were legally insane when they committed the crimes. They must also show they had a mental disease or defect that left them incapable of knowing or understanding the nature or quality of their acts or that the acts were morally or legally wrong.

Taylor said his client had been abandoned by his mother and molested as a child by an adult. By the time of the crimes, he'd lost the ability to premeditate and deliberate his actions, Taylor said.

"Mental health did play a most significant role in what happened here," the attorney said. "It's the answer to why. It's the most obvious. It is the mental health of the person involved."

The trial resumes at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday in courtroom 22 before Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at 805-206-8805 or kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Camarillo man on trial for sex assaults, child's attempted murder