Jurors convict Buena Park man of sexually assaulting 2-year-old
A 23-year-old Buena Park man was convicted this week of sexually assaulting a toddler, with the jury trial ending with courts closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A Santa Ana jury on Wednesday found Arthur William Robert Callender guilty of two felony counts of sexual intercourse with a child under age 10, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege that Callender sexually assaulted a 2-year-old girl he was babysitting in 2016. His trial was already underway when the chief justice of the California Supreme Court issued an order suspending jury trials statewide by 60 days because of health concerns related to the coronavirus.
The chief justice’s order allowed jury trials to move forward if the judge presiding over them believed there was good cause to do so. In Callender’s trial, Orange County Superior Court Judge Andre Manssourian opted to move forward because of the “serious nature of the crimes and the advanced stage” of the proceedings, according to the DA’s Office.
Of the 16 jurors originally impaneled, 14 returned to the Santa Ana courthouse on Wednesday to hear closing arguments. The court facility is currently closed to the public, with only a limited number of time-sensitive or emergency hearings being heard.
According to prosecutors, jurors in the Callender trial were moved out of the jury box and spread out across the entire courtroom to accomplish social distancing.
During their deliberations, the jurors were taken to a separate courtroom rather than being placed in a smaller jury room. They reached a verdict within an hour.
“The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is incredibly grateful to the jurors for their commitment to the criminal justice system,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement following the verdict. “Despite the challenges of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, these men and women came to court, considered the evidence and returned a verdict that will keep this monster behind bars for decades. Their selflessness will prevent him from victimizing other children.”
Callender is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on June 12, court records show.