Another teen talks about defendant and girl
Defendant's remarks made witness 'uncomfortable'
By Bobbi Mlynar
Friday, August 24, 2007
A man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl allegedly solicited the girl’s friend as the relationship between him and the 13-year-old wound down, according to testimony this morning in Lyon County District Court.
The 13-year-old was identified as Girl No. 3 when she testified earlier this week.
Girl No. 3’s girlfriend, now 14, will not be identified by name. She took the witness stand today in the trial of Raul Manuel Magallanez Jr., who also faces about 60 charges of illegal sexual and alcohol involvement with girls from 13 to 15 years of age.
The girlfriend said that initially Magallanez, who is known as Manuel, began calling her to talk about the 13-year-old. During direct questioning by Assistant County Attorney Amy Aranda, the girlfriend said the defendant told her “that he loved (Girl No. 3)... that he wouldn’t hurt her and that he wanted to be with her. ... That he wanted to have sex with her.”
The girlfriend said that she felt uncomfortable hearing that from Magallanez.
"Like when he'd talk about having sex with (Girl No. 3) and being with me, and said he wanted to marry her, and like that," the girl said.
She said that they also talked about other things. The girl stopped to cry several times during her testimony.
“He told me that I was pretty and that I was easy to talk to and that I was a good listener, just those things,” she said.
Later, he told her “that he wanted to have sex with me and that he didn’t like (Girl No. 3) any more, and that he’d kind of just moved on from her. ... Sometimes he’d want me to sneak out and go see him.”
The girlfriend said that she had not sneaked out to meet him.
She said that she and Girl No. 3, who was babysitting her little brother, met at Peter Pan Park and soon were joined by Magallanez and one of his friends, who is a brother of a friend of the girls.
The girlfriend said that Girl No. 3’s little brother did not stay with them while they talked to the defendant and his friend.
“She told her little brother to play with the other kids on the playground and that she would be back,” the girlfriend said. The four talked for “probably an hour and a half or longer.”
Their absence prompted a call to the Emporia Police Department.
“Her little brother thought that she was lost, so he called the police on someone’s phone,” the girlfriend testified. “The police officer came and helped them look for her.”
When the officer found the girls, she said, “he told her that she should watch out for her little brother and not to leave him alone with no one watching him.”
Magallanez and his friend got in a car and left when the police arrived.
The girlfriend testified that she and Girl No. 3 were babysitting at the home of a mutual friend’s sister when Girl No. 3 and Manuel were having an argument on the telephone over their break-up. Girl No. 3 later left the house when Manuel came over, and they walked to Walnut School playground.
The girl said that she followed the pair because she it was dark and she was worried that something would happen to her because Magallanez was angry.
Magallanez was walking away from Girl No. 3, the girlfriend said.
“That night at the playground, she ran up behind him and she was graabbing him and she was crying,” the girl testified.
Girl No. 3 returned to the house after the other girlfriend, still babysitting, texted her.
The next morning, Girl No. 3 said that she had sneaked out of the house again during the night to go to Magallanez’s house, the girlfriend testified.
She said that Girl No. 3 had sneaked out to meet Magallanez during the night on other occasions.
“She invited me and (another friend) to stay the night at her house and she, like, just left,” the girlfriend testified. “Me and (the other friend) didn’t really know each other then and it was kind of awkward for us.”
She said that Girl No. 3 came back in about ann hour, and said that they had met in the Logan Avenue school parking lot and talked.
She testified that she had been talking on the telephone to Girl No. 3, who told her she was getting ready to go see Magallanez.
“She was climbing out of the window, she said,” the girlfriend said. “He was parked outside her house is what she said and she was just going to walk over and get in the car.”
The girlfriend testified that Girl No. 3 later told her and some friends that she had had sexual intercourse with the defendant and that she thought she was pregnant. The girlfriend said that Girl No. 3 later told her she had said that because Magallanez had broken up with her.
Magallanez called the girlfriend regularly to talk about what was happening with Girl No. 3.
“Because he wanted to know if everything was okay and who found out about it and stuff,” the girlfriend testified. She said he asked “lots of questions” about what was going on at school, who was talking about it and what Girl No. 3 was saying.
The girlfriend testified that she had not believed everything Girl No. 3 had told her.
Under re-direct questioning, Aranda asked her about saying she was not sure what to think when Magallanez talked about wanting to marry Girl No. 3.
“I didn’t really think that he was telling the truth, either,” the girlfriend said.