Amid the attention to a horrifying Monterey County case, the district attorney made a statement about the arrest warrant for a 14-year-old girl thought to have given birth on a roadside.
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“We recognize that the 14-year-old is a victim of her father’s abuse,” said the statement Wednesday from Jeannine M. Pacioni, who clarified that the office was not involved in the warrant for the juvenile “Jane Doe” and has not made any decision about a charge against her.
“Our priority is to ensure that this young girl is safe and has access to the support and services she needs,” Pacioni said.
The sheriff’s office announced this week that it had obtained warrants in the “Baby Angelita” case for the arrest of the teen and her father — who is also believed to have fathered the newborn found dead near the road.
The warrant for the father, Sergio Galvez Perez, 36, is on charges including incest and lewd acts with a minor. The warrant for Jane Doe is for murder.
Pacioni said the warrant was of a type — a Ramey warrant — that a law enforcement agency obtains through a court without review or approval by the district attorney’s office.
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She did emphasize that her office has filed criminal charges against the father for “the heinous crime of sexually assaulting his own child.”
As of Wednesday, neither of the two had been apprehended. The sheriff’s office said the father is “preventing law enforcement from locating” the girl.
The sheriff’s office said Monday that Ofelia Garcia Ortega, 36, had been arrested on suspicion of child endangerment in relation to the case. The DA’s office identified the woman as the teen’s mother and said it is reviewing possible charges against her.
The newborn was found Aug. 1 along a road in the Moss Landing area. “Detectives developed evidence indicating that a juvenile female gave birth to Baby Angelita along the side of the road and placed her on the ground before leaving the area,” the sheriff’s office said.
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