A trial opened Monday with jury selection for a man accused with a former girlfriend of having a young girl engage in sex acts with them starting around 2013.
Andres Guerra, 48, of Hammond, is charged with two counts of child molesting. He has pleaded not guilty.
His ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Alvarado, 35, is scheduled to go on trial Nov. 3 for one count of child molesting.
The victim told East Chicago police that Guerra molested her in two separate homes starting when she was 10 or 11, which began with Guerra touching her inappropriately as she slept, an affidavit alleges.
Over time, Alvarado joined in the sexual abuse, which ended around October 2015, records state. It was something the victim tried to block out, but later told a teacher at school.
Defense lawyer John Cantrell argued in a pretrial hearing Monday that the victim made up the accusations after an alleged fist fight with Alvarado on Oct. 30, 2015. Alvarado pleaded guilty in that case and got one year on probation.
Deputy Prosecutor Michael Stewart and Arturo Balcazar are assigned. Guerra’s trial is before Judge Gina Jones.
Lake County marriage license filings and election records show he married Mellissa Guerra in 2019, who is a Hammond school board member.
She could not be immediately reached for comment Monday night.