Merced child molestation case set for trial

A jury trial is set for later this month for a Merced man accused of molesting a girl on two occasions, once when she was 5 years old and again about six years later.

Thomas Earl Mullins, 64, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of oral copulation with a minor. If convicted, he faces about 20 years in state prison, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.

He appeared in court briefly Tuesday to confirm the trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin April 21 before Judge Ronald W. Hansen in Merced Superior Court, prosecutors confirmed Wednesday.

Mullins is already a registered sex offender stemming from a 1984 child molestation conviction in the state of Washington, authorities have said. In the Merced case, he is accused of molesting the girl in 2007 and again in 2013, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Authorities became aware of the allegations in October 2013, and Mullins was arrested a short time later, the Merced County Sheriff’s Department reported previously. Authorities have said the girl was a relative of a woman Mullins had been dating.

Mullins’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Chris Loethen, declined to comment.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Merced child molestation case set for trial."