Salinas man found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child, paying for her silence

A jury found a Salinas man guilty of sexually abusing a child over the course of several years and paying her to maintain her silence.

In February 2018, Salinas police received a claim of child molestation that had been going on for years. They talked to the 15-year-old girl, and she reported that her uncle through marriage had inappropriately touched her for years.

The girl told police that 43-year-old Jose Francisco Barajas started to abuse her when she was 12 years old. She said the abuse ranged from kissing and groping to digital penetration. She said Barajas also paid her for lewd photos.

The victim said that when she was 13, she told Barajas to stop touching her or she would tell someone, but he told her that the family would break up, nobody would believe her and that because he had money, he would not go to jail. After that, Barajas paid the victim $2,000 to $3,000 over the course of two years to maintain her silence.

Police investigated the claims for a year and a half, and during the investigation officers found several witnesses and pieces of evidence that backed up the victim’s claims, but also showed that Barajas had tried to destroy digital evidence of the crimes and encouraged the victim to lie to police.

Barajas was convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 14, dissuading a victim and lewd and lascivious conduct with a 14 or 15-year-old child. His sentencing is set for October 2019, and he is facing as much as 18 years and eight months in prison. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for life.