HILLSBORO, Ore.- On September 6, 2019, a Washington County jury found Alvaro Noe Mendoza- Valencia, age 44, guilty of two counts of first-degree rape, three counts of second-degree rape, two counts of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, first-degree sodomy, second-degree sodomy, four counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, one count of second-degree unlawful sexual penetration, and four counts of first-degree sex abuse. On September 25, 2019, Judge Andrew Erwin sentenced the defendant to 75 years in prison. The convictions related to the defendant’s ongoing sexual abuse of three different minor females. The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Andy Pulver.
In 2016 one of the victims reported Mr. Mendoza-Valencia’s sexual abuse to a family member. That family member later reported this disclosure to a victim advocate at an unrelated grand jury proceeding. The victim advocate notified police immediately, prompting an investigation by the Hillsboro Police Department.
Two of the victims were referred to CARES Northwest where they made detailed disclosures of abuse. A third victim came forward to report additional abuse once she learned of Mr. Mendoza-Valencia’s arrest.
The CARES Northwest forensic interviews revealed that two of the victims were first subjected to sexual abuse when they were young children. The abuse spanned a number of years and often took place in the presence of another victim. The third victim disclosed sexual abuse that predated that of the other two victims. She reported that Mr. Mendoza-Valencia’s abuse resumed once he no longer had access to the other two victims. All of the victims described intimidation tactics made by Mr. Mendoza-Valencia in which he threatened violence against the victims or their family members if they ever disclosed the abuse.
“This is one of the most disturbing cases of child abuse I have ever prosecuted,” Mr. Pulver said of the trial against Mr. Mendoza-Valencia. “We would like to thank the victims for coming forward so that we were able to hold Mr. Mendoza-Valencia accountable and protect future potential victims from him.”
Mr. Mendoza-Valencia was extremely uncooperative during the course of his trial and refused to participate in the court proceedings. After filing written complaints resulting in the removal of his first court-appointed attorney, Mr. Mendoza-Valencia made repeated efforts to remove his second attorney in the weeks approaching trial. Despite two previous denials by two different judges, Mr. Mendoza-Valencia made a third attempt to remove his attorney in front of the trial court, Judge Erwin. When the court denied his request, Mr. Mendoza-Valencia became verbally combative and informed Judge Erwin that he refused to abide by court rules or participate in his own defense until he was granted a new lawyer.
Judge Erwin, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, and Mr. Mendoza-Valencia’s attorney made every attempt to facilitate his meaningful participation in his trial. This included ongoing communications with Mr. Mendoza-Valencia about his constitutional rights and repeated invitations for him to return to the courtroom. When a remote location was set up to allow Mr. Mendoza-Valencia to communicate with his attorney in writing and view the proceedings over live video transmission, he threatened physical resistance to any effort by Washington County Jail deputies to move him there.
The Washington County District Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge Hillsboro Police Detective Cheryl Banks for her excellent work on this case. We would also like to commend Washington County Jail deputies for their handling of this challenging case.
