A 20-year-old Hailey man pleaded guilty Monday to lewd conduct with a minor child under 16 for having had sex earlier this year with a 12-year-old girl.
Roland Juarez-Juarez entered his plea before Judge Robert J. Elgee in Blaine County 5th District Court. Elgee advised the defendant that the crime is punishable in Idaho by up to life in prison.
The defendant's guilty plea was in accord with a plea agreement with the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, which will recommend at sentencing that Juarez-Juarez be sentenced to seven years in prison, with four years to be served before he is eligible for parole.
Juarez-Juarez was arrested in early June along with a 17-year-old Hailey boy for allegedly having sexual encounters with two 12-year-old Hailey girls at the Balmoral apartments on Shenandoah Drive in southeast Hailey. Information on the status of charges against the 17-year-old boy was not available because court records are typically sealed in juvenile cases.
Juarez-Juarez, however, has been incarcerated in the Blaine County Jail since his arrest.
The defendant, who required the services of a Spanish-speaking interpreter, told the court that he is not a U.S. citizen, that he is married and that he has only six years of education.
"I was with a minor child," Juarez-Juarez told the court through the interpreter. Asked to be more specific, he acknowledged that he had a "sexual relationship with her."
Although court records state that the girl willingly had sex with Juarez-Juarez, he was also originally charged with rape. That charge will be dismissed in accord with the plea agreement.
The change-of-plea hearing lasted about 45 minutes, which is longer than usual. Elgee spent much of the time trying to make sure that the defendant understood that he was giving up his right to a jury trial and that he understood the ramifications of pleading guilty to the charge.
"This plea might result in your deportation from the United States and it might make it difficult or impossible for you to reenter the United States," Elgee said.
Sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
Rolando Juarez-Juarez
