SLO man told 13-year-old she was still a virgin despite his abuse, detective testifies

A San Luis Obispo man accused of molesting two girls, who were 8 and 10 years old at the time, told one of his victims in a text message being monitored by police that she was still a virgin despite his abuse, a police detective testified during a preliminary hearing in court Tuesday.

Matthew Roland Betts, 44, is facing three felony charges of sexual penetration of a victim under 10 years old and six felony charges of lewd acts with a child under 14 and lewd acts with force for crimes that allegedly occurred over the past three years against two young girls.

He pleaded not guilty in July.

Betts was in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing in which Judge John Trice will determine whether enough evidence exists to accept any or all of the charges filed by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office and proceed to trial. At the conclusion of the hourlong hearing, Trice took the case under submission following a challenge to at least two charges by Betts’ attorney, Jeffry Radding.

Trice will rule on the charges at a hearing Thursday afternoon.

Betts was arrested June 29 after a 13-year-old told investigators that Betts, who had dated the girl’s mother, had allegedly abused her years earlier, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department. He was released from County Jail after posting $250,000 bail Aug. 2, according to court records.

On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Speer-Mathews called one witness, San Luis Obispo police Detective Suzie Aanerud, who testified that she interviewed both of the alleged victims.

The first victim, now 14, told Aanerud in June that her mother began dating Betts in 2008. After the girl’s father died in 2012, Betts baby-sat her in her San Luis Obispo home, Aanerud testified. The abuse is alleged to have occurred over the span of one year, until Betts’ relationship with the mother ended in 2013.

The girl told Aanerud that on several occasions, Betts entered her bedroom while her sibling was not there, touched her and penetrated her vagina with his fingers. On other occasions, Betts made the girl touch his erect penis both inside and outside of his clothing, Aanerud testified the girl told her.

She said Betts also sent her several “creepy” messages on social media containing short clips of music videos, including a Justin Beiber video featuring the lyrics, “You could be my girlfriend,” Aanerud testified.

It was not made clear in court Tuesday how authorities were alerted to the alleged molestation, but Aanerud testified that the girl identified Betts to authorities from a photo on his social media account. Under Aanerud’s direction, the girl sent a text message to Betts asking him if she was “still a virgin after what he had done to her,” Aanerud said.

“He told her she was still a virgin” in a reply message, Aanerud said, and added that he was willing to talk to her about it if she wanted.

Under cross examination by Radding, Aanerud said the girl did not know the number of times she was abused and provided a “generalization of long-term abuse.”

One lewd act charge is related to a second victim, who was 8 years old during a March incident at the girl’s home, where Betts was performing contractor work, according to testimony.

Aanerud stated that in that incident, Betts was watching one of the Republican primary debates at the home, sitting on a couch with the girl with the family’s dog in between the two. The girl told Aanerud that Betts began petting the dog but repeatedly crept his hand toward the girl, touching her thigh and crotch. She repeatedly moved his hand back onto the dog, but he repeated the touching, Aanerud said.

The girl’s father, who had briefly stepped out of the room, returned and witnessed the abuse. He told his daughter to go into another room and “proceeded to kick Mr. Betts out of his house,” Aanerud said. The family alerted authorities and Betts was arrested.

Under questioning by Radding, Aanerud said Betts did not threaten the girls or tell them not to talk to anyone about the encounters.

In closing, Radding argued that at least two of the lewd act charges should be dismissed because there is no evidence of Betts using force, Radding argued.

“There’s insufficient evidence here even for probable cause,” Radding said.

Betts will be back in court for the ruling Thursday, when Trice will also hear a motion from the California Office of the Attorney General to suspend Betts’ contractor’s license.

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 5:32 PM with the headline "SLO man told 13-year-old she was still a virgin despite his abuse, detective testifies."