Jurors hear different theories in ex-teacher's rape trial

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A former Wapato teacher accused of having sex with a student was instead the victim of jealousy between the child and her mother, the man's defense attorney told jurors Wednesday.

Jesus Vega Barcenas, 28, is charged in Yakima County Superior Court with two counts of first-degree child rape and three counts of second-degree child rape.

His case was one of four in the county reported to law enforcement in 2007 that involved authority figures close to children. The others were a church volunteer, a karate instructor and a basketball coach, all with ties to the Yakima area.

Coach Randy Sayler pleaded guilty to rape and molestation charges and was sentenced to 23 years. Church volunteer Jerry Ketzenberg pleaded guilty to child molestation and was sentenced to 20 months. Karate instructor Paul Barr was found guilty of molestation and awaits trial on voyeurism charges that arose during the police investigation of the initial allegations.

In her opening statement to the jury Wednesday morning, deputy prosecutor Patti Powers said witnesses in the Vega Barcenas trial are expected to testify that he and the girl met through an after-school program when she was in the third grade.

She entered the fifth grade in September 2006 and was put in his class, police have said.

Powers said the fondling began soon after that, when the girl would come to his classroom after school to help him with various tasks.

According to the initial police report, the girl said Vega Barcenas gave her $50 for her 11th birthday, and that two weeks later they began kissing at school. The girl reported they engaged in sex acts about a half-dozen times in Vega Barcenas' classroom during the 2006-07 school year.

When school ended for the year, Vega Barcenas allegedly began dating the girl's mother. Before summer's end, the police report said, he had moved into the mother and daughter's Yakima home and continued to have sex with the girl.

The charges include three alleged incidents of intercourse at the girl's home through December 2007, Powers said.

Her mother went to Yakima police with her daughter in late 2007 after discovering a note in the girl's jeans while doing laundry, Powers said.

Defense attorney Greg Scott said Vega Barcenas and the girl's mother started dating soon after a school counselor talked with the girl because of reports that she was having intimate contact with Vega Barcenas. The girl denied any inappropriate behavior, saying she was only fantasizing about him, Scott said.

Scott described Vega Barcenas as a popular young teacher and said many of the female students had a crush on him.

Powers said that early in the relationship between the girl and Vega Barcenas, her mother questioned Vega Barcenas about why he would have given her cash.

The trial is scheduled to last through next week.

* Information from Herald-Republic archives is included in this report.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.