‘He told me not to tell anybody’: Girl testifies Castro Valley afterschool staffer molested her for months

OAKLAND — The alleged molestation victim of a Castro Valley afterschool staffer came into court “extremely terrified” of who might be in the audience, prompting prosecutors to ask a judge to bar the public if anyone walked in.

Over the bulk of the court hearing, the girl — known in court only as “Jane Doe” — described being inappropriately touched, repeatedly over several months, by 28-year-old Eduardo Lopez-Robles, inside Stanton Elementary School. She said it started with a hand brushing over her lower back, which she assumed was accidental. After the sexual abuse progressed, she realized it wasn’t, she said.

The alleged molestation started in late 2023, continuing into April of the following year, according to prosecutors. Lopez-Robles, who has been out of jail after posting $200,000 bail since his December 2024 arrest, faces charges of molesting the girl and possessing more than 1,300 downloaded pictures and videos of child sexual abuse material, court records show. But his attorney has already gotten one of the sex abuse charges dismissed.

Last December, the alleged victim took the witness stand at a preliminary hearing. She said she first encountered Lopez-Robles between fourth and fifth grade, when he worked for PlayCV, an afterschool program contracted through the elementary school. She said he began telling her to go into the school’s library and would inappropriately touch her when they were alone.

Over time, Lopez-Robles bought her toys and made it clear he didn’t want her talking about what was going on, she testified. She said she came to view him “like a friend” and stayed silent for several months.

“I think the first time he did it he told me not to tell anybody, because he would get in trouble,” she testifed. “And like at the time, he was, like, a friend to me, and I just wanted things to go back to before all this. He was like a really good teacher to me and I liked to be his friend, but I didn’t want him to keep doing this to me. So I didn’t tell anybody, that’s why.”

After the girl came forward, Lopez-Robles was arrested and charged. But at an August court hearing, his lawyer convinced Judge Thomas Stevens to throw out one of the charges, continuous sexual abuse of a minor. The reasons behind the dismissal are technical — prosecutors are required to prove that three specifically defined “qualifying acts” must have occurred within three months. Not all forms of child molestation qualify.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s office admitted in court filings it was a close call but said Stevens should allow the charge to stand. The defense argued that Doe’s testimony only referred to being molested repeatedly but didn’t pin down exactly when each act occurred and left wiggle room to the timeline. After dismissing the single charge — and denying a defense motion to dismiss a count of sexual penetration by foreign object — Stevens set Lopez-Robles’ next court date for mid-October, records show.

Lopez-Robles has pleaded not guilty.