Girl, 11, testifies in trial of Paso Robles man prosecutor calls a ‘serial child predator’
One of at least four children who were allegedly sexually molested by Jason Porter of Paso Robles took the stand in his trial Tuesday, testifying that she pretended to sleep while he abused her and snapped photos.
The girl, now 11, was 4 years old at the time of the crimes. She testified calmly, sitting beside a child therapist and Edgar, the District Attorney’s Office’s yellow labrador that serves as a support animal for victims during difficult testimony.
The girl was the final witness in the jury-less bench trial, which began last week. Following closing arguments on Tuesday, a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge is expected to issue verdicts in the case Wednesday morning.
Porter was arrested in June 2016 after allegedly being caught by the girl’s mother, who was a former friend and neighbor, shooting cell phone photos under her child’s dress.
He was arrested a second time weeks later after investigators found tens of thousands of images and videos of children engaging in sexual acts, including some allegedly showing Porter molesting children, during a search of his home and electronic devices.
Porter has pleaded not guilty to 58 criminal counts, including 17 felony charges of committing sex acts on a child and possession of child pornography, as well as 41 misdemeanor charges of invasion of privacy for the alleged bathroom camera.
The charging document in the case lists four child victims of physical sexual abuse between the ages of 4 and 7 years old at the time. An additional 32 minors were identified in film and photo evidence recovered from Porter’s devices.
Evidence presented during the trial allegedly shows that Porter installed a video camera in the bathroom of the home he shared with his parents in Paso Robles, where his family would regularly host pool parties for neighbors and other family and their kids.
Officials say Porter secretly filmed both children and adults in the home’s bathroom; that footage was also found during the search.
“The evidence shows that Mr. Porter is a serial child predator,” said deputy district attorney Melissa Chabra, who is prosecuting the case. “The evidence is strong.”
Porter has remained in San Luis Obispo County Jail since his second arrest, with bail posted at $7 million.
Young victim testifies
On Tuesday, the 11-year-old girl testified about one incident of molestation that occurred several years before Porter was caught photographing her in 2016.
The girl recalled that when she was 4 years old, she stayed at the Porters’ house to play with his two adolescent sons, who were friends.
Asked if something “made (her) uncomfortable” during that stay, the girl remembered sleeping alone in Porter’s son’s bed when she was awoken by a man she recognized as Porter pull down her pants and commit a lewd act, which she described in court.
She said she heard him take several cell phone photos then sit down and watch her for a while before leaving the bedroom.
“I pretended I was asleep,” she said.
She told her mother and another friend about the incident the next day, she said. Other testimony in the case shows that despite that incident, police weren’t made aware until Porter’s arrest in 2016.
In her closing statement, Chabra went through each count involving physical abuse and referenced specific digital media that she said proves the specific criminal acts were committed against specific victims.
She did not go into that detail regarding the media collected from Porter’s bathroom camera, telling the judge that some victims related to those charges have either never been identified or were not identified in court.
“There’s overwhelming evidence for the court in this case,” she said, adding that the law does not require the prosecution to establish the identity of each victim in court for those misdemeanor charges.
Regarding the more serious charges, Chabra said the “horrific” videos “speak for themselves.”
“His obsession with taking these videos was his downfall,” she said.
Defendant confessed to police officer, video shows
The case against Porter has stretched on for five years — supposedly the county’s longest ongoing criminal case — and has been delayed several times since Porter fired his public defender and insisted on representing himself.
Ultimately, Porter agreed to be represented by defense attorney Jeffry Radding, and opted last month to proceed to trial without a jury.
His attorney called no witnesses and entered no evidence.
Pre-trial motions filed by Porter before Radding’s appointment appear to show that he plans to appeal any conviction handed down by LaBarbera, saying his Miranda rights were violated and due to the involvement of disgraced Paso Robles police sergeant Christopher McGuire, who was a lead investigator in the case before he resigned amid a sexual misconduct investigation.
Previous legal challenges by Porter have been struck down in Superior Court.
Last week, LaBarbera heard testimony from the young witness’ mother, who said that she caught Porter taking lewd cell phone photos of her daughter at her house in June 2016.
The woman physically wrestled the phone from Porter, she said.
Jeff Depetro, a since-retired Paso Robles police officer, testified that he responded to the house and saw the photos on the phone.
“Why do that? Is it exciting or something for you?” Depetro asked Porter, according to dash cam video played in court.
“Somewhat, yes,” Porter says.
LaBarbera was presented with a lengthy catalog of more than 20,000 digital images and videos taken from Porter’s many electronic devices.
Many of those came from a laptop in which Porter had the content stored in files that bear his alleged victim’s names, inside another file labeled “My Little Candies.”
LaBarbera is expected to deliver his verdicts at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 6:36 PM.
