(Ryan Crowe/FCR)
FLOYDADA – It took a Floyd County jury just over an hour to find 27-year-old Jesus Zarate guilty of continued sexual assault of a minor Tuesday evening. Zarate’s victim, an extended family member, was assaulted over a period of six years.
During testimony Tuesday afternoon, the victim’s mother recalled a phone conversation she had with Zarate once the assault had come to light. “Have compassion for my baby,” the mother said Zarate told her upon learning police were investigating. “You didn’t have any compassion for mine,” the mother cried.
Zarate was arrested in October of 2022 for the assault and has remained in the Castro County Jail since his arrest.
During their testimony, the victim discussed the first time Zarate sexually assaulted them when they were just 12-years-old. The victim said it happened when they were the only two in the home. “I was thinking, ‘nobody is here to protect me,'” the victim told the court.
When asked by Zarate’s attorney why they hadn’t reported the assault earlier, the victim said they were scared to break their family apart as Zarate was living with the family and was treated “like a son.” The victim was also concerned what their family would think of them, stating that Zarate had made them feel as it was their fault.
Zarate took the stand in his defense, stating that the accusations against him were false and that no assault had ever occurred. District Attorney Emily Teagardin, during cross-examination, asked Zarate how the family could make the accusation when Zarate’s own girlfriend (now wife) was the one who brought the ongoing assault to light out of “jealousy” of the victim. Zarate was unable to explain, only stating that despite a video he recorded on his phone of one of the incidents being shared by the girlfriend on social media, the family had lied to “set me up.”
The jury of eight women and four men was given the case just after 6:30 Tuesday evening and returned just after 7:30 with their guilty verdict. Zarate’s sentencing will begin Wednesday morning in Judge Bill Smith’s courtroom.
