Molestation jury trial delayed a month

The jury trial for Juan Trejo Perez, who’s accused of molesting a teenage boy in Pullman, won’t happen until next month.

Trejo Perez’s trial was struck from Monday’s docket in Whitman County Superior Court. The court date that could convict him of felony third-degree child molestation has been rescheduled for March 11.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Tessa Scholl said the trial was pushed back because Trejo Perez didn’t appear for his readiness hearing earlier this month. She added the hearing was in preparation for the trial and he needed to be present to call ready for the trial.

Trejo Perez was originally arrested in October 2023 after a Pullman family told police he touched a 14-year-old boy below the belt, according to court records. Pullman police apprehended him at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport while he was allegedly trying to flee the country. He, his wife and four children reside in Mexico.

He began a jury trial in December 2023, which ended with a hung jury and mistrial. Prosecutors have been preparing for his second trial since.

Whitman County Superior Court Commissioner Doug Robinson set bail for Trejo Perez at $5,000 cash bond upon his original arrest.

A few days before his readiness hearing Feb. 2, he posted bail and was released from prison, according to past reporting. A nationwide arrest warrant was issued for him after he failed to show up to court.

Pullman police found Trejo Perez hiding in a changing room at Pullman Building Supply the morning of Feb. 5. He was sent back to the Whitman County Jail to be held without bail.

Additionally, Trejo Perez faces a gross misdemeanor charge for violating a sexual assault protection order. He reportedly contacted the victim from jail after his December trial when he was ordered not to, according to past reporting. Washington state also intends on filing felony bail jumping charges for missing his court date.

Trejo Perez will appear in Whitman County Superior Court later this month before his jury trial.