A Santa Maria man has pleaded not guilty in Santa Barbara County Superior Court to six felony charges alleging he sexually assaulted a child over a period of several years.
Eduardo Churape Velazquez, 38, was arrested July 11 by Santa Maria police, and booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail.
Velazquez faces two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child by force, aggravated sexual assault of a child involving oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse, forcible oral copulation, and forcible rape.
He also faces several sentencing enhancements, including that one sexual offense allegedly occurred during a kidnaping.
Law enforcement officers alleged the incidents occurred between 2014 and 2020, and that the victim was under age 14.
During his first court appearance, Velazquez pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the special allegations.
He is scheduled to return to court July 30, when the judge and attorneys may schedule a date for his preliminary hearing.
He remained in the custody on Monday, with bail set at $1.25 million.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.