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PITTSBURG — A trial is set to start Tuesday for a Bay Point man accused of raping a 15-year-old girl, then inviting a friend over to sexually abuse her for a $90 fee, court records show.
Francisco “Pancho” Perea-Parra, 34, has been in jail since July 2022 when he was arrested on charged of human trafficking, pandering, rape of an unconscious person, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, committing a lewd act upon a child, and assault. The charges stem from accusations by a then-15-year-old girl who accused Perea-Parra of raping her after he gave her tequila at her home, then allowing another man to sexually abuse her at Perea-Parra’s direction for a $90 fee.
Perea-Parra gave a voluntary police interview and denied most of the girl’s claims, telling police he believed she was 18 and that she was making up false accusations about him to cover for the fact that she stole his Honda. But the second man accused of sexually abusing her, Angelberto “Goofy” Gonzalez, 46, recently pleaded no contest to committing a lewd act upon the girl and has already been sentenced to two years in prison.
The investigation began on July 29, 2022, when a friend Perea-Parra called Pittsburg police to report that the alleged victim was screaming frantically in the street after she and Perea-Parra had helped the girl by giving her a ride. When police arrived, they separated the girl and interviewed her. She told them that over the past two days, Perea-Parra had taken her to his home in Bay Point, offered her marijuana, cocaine, and tequila, then sexually assaulted her after she drank two shots of tequila and passed out, according to court records.
The girl also claimed that a second man had come to the home and paid $90 to sexually abuse her. She said Perea-Parra stopped her from leaving, but that once he fell asleep she swiped the keys to his Honda, stole the vehicle, and drove to a friend’s house in Pittsburg. She then claimed that Perea-Parra tracked her down at the home hours later and rendered her unconscious by placing her in a chokehold in order to retrieve the vehicle, authorities allege.
Police searched Perea-Parra’s Bay Point home and found a bottle of tequila. Chemical tests failed to find any date rape drugs in the alcohol; the girl said she believed she’d been drugged because she passed out shortly after having a drink. Authorities also found a used condom in a wastepaper basket, and sent it to a county lab for DNA testing, according to court records.
In February 2023, the DNA came back as linking to Gonzalez, who initiated the police interview in a strange way. When police asked if he knew a man named Pancho, he replied, without elaboration: “the girl was 18.” He then denied ever having sex with the girl, but said he paid her $90 because Perea-Parra had asked him to, according to authorities.
“(Perea-Parra) told me to have sex with her, help her out,” because she needed money, Gonzalez allegedly told police. He claimed the girl “robbed” him by accepting the money and then refusing sex, so he left.
Prosecutors filed child molestation charges against Gonzalez on April 3. Court records show that just 11 days later, he accepted to plea deal and two-year prison term. He was transferred to Wasco State Prison on his 46th birthday, earlier this month.
In his own police interview, meanwhile, Perea-Parra allegedly admitted to having sex with the girl but insisted that though she looked 14, he believed she was 18 years old. His female companion — the same one who called police to report the girl on July 29 — also told authorities that the girl told them she was an adult, according to court papers.
Perea-Parra said he’d let the girl stay at his home because he felt sorry for her and believed she had nowhere else to say, and accepted sex as a form of payment for giving her rides around town, according to police. He also said the alleged chokehold was really a hug, and that the rest of her allegations were lies designed to get her out of trouble for committed a felony vehicular theft.
Perea-Parra’s trial is set to formally begin on May 16, unless a last-minute plea deal is reached or one side requests a continuance. In the meantime, he remains in jail in lieu of $335,000 bail.