SAN MARTIN
– The daughter of a Morgan Hill barber says charges that her
father sexually molested underage girls are part of a relative’s
revenge plot.
SAN MARTIN – The daughter of a Morgan Hill barber says charges that her father sexually molested underage girls are part of a relative’s revenge plot.
Joe Vera, who owns Joe’s Barber Shop on Monterey Road in Morgan Hill, appeared in Santa Clara County Superior Court Friday morning. Superior Court Judge Ray Cunningham postponed his plea entry until April 23 and referred him to the public defender’s office.
Unlike the cheerful, clean-cut image in his jail booking photo, Vera was unshaven and seemed nervous in court.
Vera, arrested April 2, stands accused of performing a lewd act with a child younger than 14 and twice committing an act of oral copulation with a minor. All of these incidents took place in Gilroy, according to Gilroy police, but when they allegedly occurred, and with how many people, remained unavailable.
Vera’s daughter Joy said Wednesday she suspects a female relative is trying to frame her father. Joy said the source of this relative’s bitterness toward her dad goes back 40 years.
“We just think this is a revenge thing on her part,” she said. “I’m not saying (the crimes) didn’t happen; it’s just that coming out after 40 years, she’s the one with the issues. She has been kind of distant from the family for a long time.”
He remains in custody in Santa Clara County jail.
