The criminal case against a former Arvin High School teacher accused of having sex with a minor could be in serious jeopardy after the victim stated she will not testify against him.
Michael Parra, who faces 7 felony counts of having sex with a minor at Arvin High School, had a motions hearing Wednesday. Although Parra was not present in court, his attorney Jared Thompson and prosecutor David Eller from the District Attorney's Office agreed to move forward with the readiness trial.
"We have a joint request to continue this to the readiness date," Eller said.
23ABC has learned about a letter from the victim to the DA's office where she explicitly states her refusal to testify.
"I am letting you know that I will not testify," the victim wrote.
The letter continues: "I will suffer for a lifetime if I have to go to court to testify against and convict this man who I wholly believe would not have done these actions unless I asked him and gave him permission to do so."
Regardless of whether the victim consented to engage in sexual activity with Parra, Lauren Skidmoore from the Open Door Network explains that it's common for victims of sexual assault, including cases involving minors, to experience feelings of guilt related to the situation.
"There's concern around retaliation. There's embarrassment, guilt, a whole host of emotions that arise and so the court proceedings are really difficult for victims to engage with. We see it all the time no matter the depth or scenario of their situation," Skidmoore said.
The victim also made reference to feeling pressure from her mother to testify, as she wrote that her mother is planning on suing the Kern High School District over this incident.
With this type of behavior being common, Attorney Juan Garza with Chain Cohn and Clark says that the case isn't necessarily in jeopardy.
"The case can still move forward, and like will move forward even without her testimony and that's because she's already given statements to police officers, and if she refuses to testify, then they can get those statements into the record and then the jury can use those when they're deciding innocence or guilt," Garza said.
Parra is scheduled to reappear in court on August 19 for a readiness trial.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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