Ex-teacher found guilty on lesser rape charges

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A jury found a former Wapato teacher accused of raping one of his fifth-grade students not guilty Thursday on three of five sex charges.

Jesus Vega Barcenas, 28, was convicted on two counts of second-degree rape of a girl, now 14, whom he first met in a third-grade after-school program.

Jurors found Vega Barcenas not guilty of two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of second-degree rape.

As the verdict was being read in Yakima County Superior Court, family members of the victim gasped loudly in the near-empty courtroom.

"We're surprised he wasn't found guilty on the first-degree charges," said one woman, who declined to provide her name.

Relatives remained in the courtroom until Vega Barcenas -- in a light blue collared shirt, tan slacks and gelled hair -- was handcuffed and removed by officers.

Closing arguments concluded on Wednesday and the jurors' verdict came after a day of deliberation.

A sentencing date for Vega Barcenas has been tentatively set for Dec. 18.

Each second-degree rape count carries anywhere from 6 1/2 years to 8 1/2 years in prison, according to state sentencing guidelines. It will be up to Superior Court Judge Michael Schwab to determine whether Vega Barcenas serves the counts concurrently or consecutively.

The deputy prosecutor and defense attorney handling the case were not immediately available for comment, as they were meeting with jurors after the verdict.

Schwab thanked the jurors for their work.

"It's not easy being a juror," he told them. "It's very intense."

According to the charges, the incidents took place in Vega Barcenas' classroom and at the girl's home between 2006 and 2007. He had moved to the family's Yakima home after he started dating the girl's mother.

Vega Barcenas was arrested in December 2007 after the mother went to Yakima police.

The mother had found a note from Vega Barcenas to the girl in the girl's jeans, according to testimony during the trial, which started last week.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Greg Scott said the charges resulted from jealousy between the mother and daughter because the girl had a crush on Vega Barcenas and was upset that the two were dating.

Scott told jurors that the prosecution presented no independent evidence of sexual contact.

Deputy prosecutor Patti Powers highlighted the girl's testimony, a diary she wrote describing the relationship she had with Vega Barcenas and forensic evidence linking the two of them.

She reminded jurors of the girl's testimony that Vega Barcenas had instructed her not to reveal their activities because he would get in trouble.

Vega Barcenas was a full-time teacher in the Wapato School District during the 2006-2007 school year, and a substitute teacher the following school year. A district administrator did not return a phone call Thursday afternoon to clarify whether Vega Barcenas was dismissed or voluntarily resigned.

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 509-577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.