GILROY
– A known Sureño gang member was arrested after he reportedly
confessed to having sex with his 13-year-old pregnant girlfriend,
who along with her 14-year-old sister were reported missing several
months ago, prompting posters to go up around town, according to
detectives.
GILROY – A known Sureño gang member was arrested after he reportedly confessed to having sex with his 13-year-old pregnant girlfriend, who along with her 14-year-old sister were reported missing several months ago, prompting posters to go up around town, according to detectives.
The girl’s mother, of Gilroy, reportedly told detectives she let the couple’s relationship continue so her daughter wouldn’t run away with the young man, as the couple recently did for two months.
The man, arrested July 19 by Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies, is now sitting in county jail under the name Jose Perez Medina, of Ronan Avenue, Gilroy. Back in May, the mother of the girl referred to him as Yoshio Ayala – although she said he went by various names.
His age is also unclear. He gave deputies who arrested him a date of birth that would make him 21, but he changed his year of birth when he was booked into jail, making himself 18.
“It really doesn’t matter that much, as far as him being an adult and her being underage,” sheriff’s detective Sgt. Jamie Evans said Wednesday. “There’s no way at this point to prove what his date of birth is ’cause he doesn’t a driver’s license or anything, so I suppose that’ll be something the DA has to delve into.”
The county District Attorney’s Office has filed a felony charge against the girl’s boyfriend for performing a lewd act with a child, but Evans said she has heard that more charges might be added.
From April to June, missing posters were up around town for the girl in question and her 14-year-old sister, both students at South Valley Middle School. Next to the girls’ pictures was a photo of Medina/Ayala, whom the girls’ mother suggested had kidnapped them. Gilroy police detective Cpl. Rosa Quiñones, however, said she believed the girls went with him willingly.
As it turned out, the girls were living with Medina/Ayala in Fremont for those two months. They returned home to Gilroy June 15, and the girls’ mother notified Quiñones.
The couple’s relationship continued, however.
In mid-July, sheriff’s detective Julian Quiñonez had cause to interview Medina/Ayala and his young girlfriend after the two were allegedly the victims of a physical assault in unincorporated South County.
Julian Quiñonez interviewed the boyfriend and girlfriend separately and, in so doing, found out she was 13 and he was an adult. During questioning, the boyfriend admitted he and the girl had had sex twice, the detective said. The young man was immediately arrested.
The girl defended her and her boyfriend’s relationship, saying she was in love with him, according to Julian Quiñonez and Evans.
Julian Quiñonez said the girl’s mother told him her daughter was pregnant and that she felt unable to prevent the girl from seeing the man.
The mother could not be reached for comment as both of her former phone lines had been disconnected.
Julian Quiñonez turned the case over to Evans, who specializes in sexual assault investigations.
Medina/Ayala, who was working in San Martin at the time of his arrest, was still in county jail as of press time, pending $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to enter a plea Aug. 10 in court in San Martin.
Evans said the man is known to police as a Sureño gangster. Sureño gangs are usually made up of Mexican natives. Their rival Norteño gangs generally consist of U.S.-born Hispanics.
