Medrano pleads not guilty to sex charges

COURTS: The former Gardena city councilman is charged with committing lewd acts on a young girl.

By Denise Nix, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 03/17/2008 11:44:13 PM PDT

Former Gardena City Councilman Oscar Medrano pleaded not guilty Monday to 12 charges of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a young girl.

Medrano's attorney, in arguing for a bail reduction, said the allegations against his client came from a "young person he cared for who did not get her way."

Gary Eto said the alleged victim, identified only as a relative, was "lashing out" against the 47-year-old married father of five.

Eto argued to Torrance Superior Court Judge William Beverly that Medrano's close ties to the community - including cousin Ed Medrano, Gardena's police chief - shows he's not a flight risk.
"He's not going anywhere," Eto said. "He doesn't even have a passport." Eto added

Former Gardena City Councilman Oscar Medrano listens to arraignment proceedings in Torrance Superior Court on Monday. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer )that Medrano's back problems, which have kept Medrano in the county jail's medical ward, would be better treated if he were allowed to remain under house arrest.

But Deputy District Attorney Beatriz Dieringer said the $960,000 bail was standard for the charges. She added that the case was filed "conservatively."

Dieringer noted that Medrano recently made plans to move out of the county by selling his home and business, Osmar Jewelry, in downtown Gardena.

"He does represent a flight risk," Dieringer said.

The judge refused to lower the bail and ordered Medrano to return to court April 1 for a preliminary hearing.

At least a dozen family members and friends somberly watched the short hearing. One
woman appeared to be crying, and she was consoled by others.

Medrano was arrested Thursday, two days after he resigned his post on the council. Medrano, who had been in office five years, said pain from his medical condition forced him to leave during his second term.

In charges filed Friday, he is accused of forcing the female relative to engage in sexual acts beginning when she was 9 years old. The alleged abuse began in 1999 and continued for seven years.

He is charged with eight counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and three counts of committing a lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 years old.

If convicted, he faces 34 years in prison, Dieringer said.

A source close to the accuser has told the Daily Breeze that Medrano began by touching the girl, but escalated the acts to sex when she was 10. The source said he molested her weekly and that she tried to report him, but nobody believed her.

The family has declined to comment on the telephone and outside of court Monday.

However, Medrano's wife has alluded to the case on her MySpace page.

On Sunday, Patrice Medrano wrote: "I have been through the worst situations in my life, but when it comes to your children and being helpless, my heart aches.

"I have seen others face challenges in their lives with having their children taken away, now I face that challenge," she wrote. "I have always been here for my family to help encourage and uplift in any way I can.

"But never have I been under attack such as now," she writes on the page, which is full of biblical quotes and references to God.