Gilroy
– A jury found a 68-year-old Gilroy man not guilty of sexually
abusing a 91-year-old woman following a five-day trial last
week.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – A jury found a 68-year-old Gilroy man not guilty of sexually abusing a 91-year-old woman following a five-day trial last week.
Lester Clary was arrested last November and was facing felony sexual battery and general misdemeanor battery charges stemming from a visit he made to a Gilroy senior care facility where his mother was living.
According to Clary’s attorney, Merrill Zimmershead, the jury skipped its lunch break and deliberated for three-and-a-half hours before returning the not guilty verdict to Judge Susan Bernardini.
“I feel very good about the result,” Zimmershead said.
A nurse at the senior home had reported seeing Clary kissing and fondling a 91-year-old resident on Nov. 1, 2003.
Zimmershead said the nurse did not report the incident until three days later. He said he had a witness, who was also an employee at the home, testify that the nurse may have held a grudge against his client.
Clary’s mother has been a resident at the home for three years, and at the time was the roommate of the 91-year-old woman, Zimmershead said.
“Mr. Clary is a very long and dutiful son, he visits his mother there almost daily,” he said.
Following his arrest and before last week’s trial, a restraining order prevented Clary from visiting his mother in her room. He was allowed to visit her in the facility’s lobby.
The District Attorney’s office gave the jury the option of convicting Clary of a lesser charge, even if it found him not guilty of sexual battery, but that option was not taken, Zimmershead said.
