Pedro Noriega-Avila was found guilty July 19 on all charges in a case that has taken over eight years to prosecute.
It took a jury less than three hours to find Noriega-Avila guilty on one county of first-degree sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of second-degree child sex assault and two counts of incest with a child by a stepparent.
The jury confirmed that Noriega-Avila went into the victim’s room between September 2009 and June 2010 and assaulted her. Noriega-Avila married the victim’s mother on July 9, 2010. Additional incidents occurred in 2014 and 2015.
Noriega-Avila initially appeared before Judge William Kussel on June 10, 2016, and subsequently posted a $5,000 cash bond. Noriega-Avila was then ordered to appear on June 20, 2016, but he did not show up. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Noriega-Avila was missing from the court for almost five years until his arrest in Arizona in 2021. Law enforcement responded to a U.S. Border Patrol station on March 13, 2021, regarding the warrant issued by the Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court for Noriega-Avila, and the defendant was already in custody when officers arrived.
In April 2021, extradition documents were issued by the county for Noriega-Avila, who was brought back to Shawano County in July 2021.
Noriega-Avila was originally scheduled to stand trial in August 2023 on one count of sexual assault of a child under age 13, two counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of incest with a child by stepparent. The trial was halted after his attorney at the time, Sara Stertz, stepped down due to being in the late stages of pregnancy and disagreement with her client on defense strategies.
According to online court records, Noriega-Avila’s attorneys made multiple attempts to have the case dismissed over the three-day trial, but Kussel denied all requests.
Noriega-Avila faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each of the incest counts and the latter two sexual assault counts. For the child sexual assault in 2010, he faces up to 60 years in prison.
Sentencing for Noriega-Avila has not yet been scheduled. His $500,000 cash bond has been revoked.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
