Hollister
– A jury trial for Richarde Monde, who is charged with molesting
a 13-year-old girl while living with several women in what they
claim was a cult in the hills above Aromas, is scheduled to begin
in less than two weeks.
Hollister – A jury trial for Richarde Monde, who is charged with molesting a 13-year-old girl while living with several women in what they claim was a cult in the hills above Aromas, is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks.
Monde, 55, and his attorney, Greg La Forge, appeared before Superior Court Judge Steven Sanders Wednesday morning to confirm the man’s trial date on Monday, April 18.
Both sides said they are ready to go to trial and La Forge told Sanders he will be try to have the juvenile records of the accuser unsealed.
Monde allegedly committed a lewd act with the child several years ago and was arrested last April, according to San Benito County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Green, who investigated the case.
The criminal investigation began when the child was arrested for shoplifting in July 2003 and told her probation officer about the incident, Green has said.
During his investigation, Green has said he talked to women who claimed Monde was the leader of a cult. Several of the women have said that he brainwashed at least six female followers and fathered six children with three of them over two decades. They said he portrayed himself as a personal growth counselor and enticed them into the group to be in a band called The Final Cut.
Monde has refused to comment on any of the allegations and La Forge has scoffed at the existence of a cult and believes the molestation charges stem from a custody battle Monde has been involved in with one of the women since Nov. 2003.
If Monde is convicted he could face up to eight years in prison. His jury trial begins on Monday, April 18 at 8:30am in Department 1 of the San Benito County Superior Court.
