Hour to convict Cesar Orlando Portillo
Dorchester County jurors only needed an hour to convict a Summerville man on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child -- and that hour included a lunch break.
A judge on Thursday sentenced 34-year-old Cesar Orlando Portillo to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Portillo had no prior criminal record, according to First Circuit Assistant Solicitor Russell Hilton.
A then 9-year-old girl told Dorchester County sheriff's investigators in January 2010 that Portillo committed a sex act on her as she tried to sleep. When Portillo went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, the girl reported the incident to an adult, prosecutors said.
The girl, now 11, testified in court against Portillo. Although the case lacked DNA evidence, an adult supported the girl's story, according to Hilton.
"I don't think there was much question in their minds," he said. "The innocence of her describing it made it clear to me and those 12 jurors."
Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594.
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