MURRIETA, Calif. -- A man accused of molesting two underage sisters inappropriately touched a third girl during a pool party at his home, an 11-year-old girl testified Thursday.
The girl, who was 9 when the alleged molestation took place in 2006, took the stand in the trial of Gilbert Simental, 49, who is charged with three counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 and an allegation that multiple victims were involved.
He faces 45 years to life if convicted on all charges, according to Deputy District Attorney Burke Strunsky.
The girl who testified Thursday was at a pool party for Simental's daughter in July 2006.
She said she couldn't swim and Simental offered to get her past the deep end to join the other girls in the pool.
"I was trying to get over to the other side where the other girls were playing," she said. "He took away my inner tube and he kind of held me strangely. I could feel his fingers (on her private area)," she said.
A case accusing Simental of molesting the girl was filed separately.
Authorities began investigating Simental when the mother of two other girls approached school officials and said her daughters were molested by the defendant.
The third girl told her mother that Simental had "pushed" her in the pool, but the mother initially took that to mean that she was pushed into the pool, she testified Thursday.
"I didn't understand what she was saying," she said.
It was a year later when the mother, concerned about the girl's recurring yeast infections, questioned her daughter more closely and became concerned she had also been molested.
That case has yet to come to trial, Strunsky said.
Simental is a Jehovah's Witness. Church elder John Vaughn testified Thursday that the defendant admitted to him that he had touched the two sisters.
"The recollection I have is that he touched both girls one time," Vaughn said.
However, under cross-examination by defense attorney Miles Clark, the elder said "I couldn't give you exact verbatim details of everything he said."
On Wednesday, the mother of the sisters testified that both her daughters told her they had been touched by the defendant in July 2006.
She said she didn't call police but did call church elders.
The elders -- Vaughn and Andrew Sinay -- lost a motion to prevent them from testifying.
An appeal to the 4th District Court of Appeal, asking the court to overturn the ruling, was filed by Simental before the trial began on Monday. The court declined to hear the appeal.
Simental maintains that he spoke in confidence to the elders. But the judge agreed with the prosecution's contention that the alleged confession to the elders was made in committee, and then information was disseminated to others.
The woman also told a teacher about the alleged molestation, and school officials called police.
The older of the two sisters, who is 12, testified Wednesday that Simental first touched her during the pool party and sleepover at his Murrieta home. She and her sister were friends with his daughter.
The girl said Simental touched her thighs as the children played in his pool and then again later that night while she was on an air mattress in his living room. She said she awakened to find him lying next to her on the mattress.
"He was just touching my legs and stuff," she testified.
The child said she protested but the defendant just said "shhh" and continued his actions.
"I didn't really get it," she said. "It made me feel weird, so I knew it was wrong."
The girl said she turned over on her stomach in the hopes that the defendant would go away, but he continued touching her.
"I turned and he just wouldn't stop," the girl said.
Simental allegedly touched the child over her clothes and under her bra and pajama shorts.
Previous Stories: 
