A Marine accused of sexually abusing a girl aged 14 at Camp Pendleton says she lied about her age. The attorneys for the defendant argued during a preliminary hearing that she had deceived him so he would sleep with her.
The accused, Private First Class Avery Rosario was arrested shortly after the girl had been found sleeping in his room on the base.
The Marine, identified as Private 1st Class Avery Rosario claims that the teen lied several times about her age, and claims that he thought she was 21 when they had alleged consensual sexual relations in the barracks of Camp Pendleton, in June.
Rosario was brought in and handcuffed to the courtroom. Inside the courtroom, cameras and recording devices are not allowed.
Both the government and the defense had an opportunity to present their closing arguments. The government chose to present its arguments in writing. Meanwhile, the defense presented a PowerPoint with the facts of the case and submitted written arguments. Rosario’s story was only told in the presentation.
According to the arguments of the defense, Rosario met the girl through a Tinder account, where she went by a fictional name and listed herself as being 21 years old in her Tinder biography. Her Tinder profile also stated, “Yeah Ik I Look Young but Hey When I’m 30, I’ll Look Like I’m In My 20s.”
The defense claimed that the girl first contacted Rosario via Tinder, started the conversation, and then began messaging them on Instagram on 26 June. It would have been over two weeks since she reportedly disappeared. The defense says that on June 26, Rosario told the girl to stay at his house. She refused, and he claimed he was living in the barracks. She allegedly suggested that they stay in a hotel. Rosario was to pick her as another Marine, LCPL. Rios drove. He took her back to his barracks where, according to the defense, they had consensual sexual relations.
The defense alleged that Rosario repeatedly asked the girl for her age, to which she replied “21.”
He claimed that he did not hear Rosario in distress or hear her scream.
Rosario’s defense presented an audio recording of a conversation between Rosario and the girl between June 26-28, the day the girl was found in Camp Pendleton. It was over two weeks since her grandmother had reported the girl as missing to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
She had fled home four days before, and her grandmother reported that she was missing on June 13. San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported that the grandmother told them the girl ran away in the past but returned quickly to her home.
The sheriff’s office has confirmed that authorities entered the girl’s data into databases of missing persons, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Capt. Charles Palmer, the 1st Marine Logistics Group, explained that the defendant was also charged with violating a liberty restriction in a separate matter.
After meeting through the Tinder application, two people began to interact on 26 June. The defense said that the girl suggested getting a hotel room. Rosario eventually picked her up and brought her to the barracks, where they had sex. The defendant went to a work event the next morning and two others saw her and spoke with it.
The defense attorneys argued also that the teenager lied in her statements to investigators. She said a man called “Hector” sex-trafficked her. The individual who accessed her social media accounts set up the encounter between Rosario and her. The girl claimed that she didn’t want to go back to her parents because they were also trafficking her.
Immediately after the girl’s discovery, her family members accused the military of trying to hide the incident. In a TikTok clip, her aunt claimed that her niece was sold to the military for sex.
Rosario faces up to 30 years of prison if convicted. The military court officials will make a recommendation on whether or not the case should be sent to court-martial, where it will be decided by an army jury.
