Trial begins for Planada man accused of child sex abuse crimes. Here’s what attorneys said

Attorneys presented opening statements Friday in the trial of a 52-year-old Planada man who faces multiple charges for allegedly sexually abusing a child.

Martin Quevedo Segura faces three counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 years old or younger and seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Segura was arrested by Merced County Sheriff’s deputies in December 2018 after the child told adults at her school she was being sexually abused.

Deputy District Attorney Tracy Roland said the child had been abused for years before adults at the school learned about the alleged crimes.

“We expect we’ll have testimony from the confidential victim that her (abuser) began touching her under her clothes,” Roland said. “We’ll also have the nurse’s testimony that she did a sexual assault exam and that the types of injuries she observed in the exam were consistent with abuse.”

Meanwhile Defense Attorney Jeffrey Tenenbaum said the child and the defendant had argued before the allegations were reported to adults at the school.

“The allegations are that my client abused (the child) hundreds of times,” Tenenbaum said. “I’m going to show that the case has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The child told sheriff’s deputies in 2018 her alleged abuser touched her inappropriately for years and tried to rape her, according to an investigative report.

During his interview with sheriff’s detectives in 2018, Segura denied touching the child inappropriately, saying he would never do that to children.

A relative of the child testified Friday, describing the girl as someone who enjoyed “dancing, singing and enjoyed going to school. She enjoyed growing and reading books. She was very caring.”

That started to change sometime before she reported the abuse to school officials, the relative said. The child’s behavior shifted, and she didn’t act as happy as she did in the years before the alleged abuse started.

“She would tell me she couldn’t sleep,” the woman testified. “She would stay up because she would tell me she just couldn’t sleep.”

At times after the girl and her siblings went to sleep, the woman would check on the children and find the child still awake.

“When she would hear the noise of the door handle, she would straighten up,” the woman testified. “She would sometimes vomit in the mornings and she wouldn’t tell me why.”

Segura remains in custody at the John Latoracca Correctional Center.

This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.