FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida swim instructor accused of sexually assaulting three young girls, testified in his own defense in court.
Twenty-nine-year-old Francisco De Aragon’s trial continued into its fourth day, Thursday.
De Aragon faces five counts of child molestation after he was accused of inappropriately touching three girls at the Deerfield Beach Aquatic Center while he was giving them swim lessons in 2015. The girls were only 6 years old at the time.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered closing arguments at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
While on the stand, De Aragon denied the charges against him.
“No, no, never, I would never do that,” said De Aragon.
When asked whether he molested each the three girls, the defendant replied “no.”
“I would never, ever, in a million years, molest a child,” De Aragon added.
When a prosecutor asked him why he was facing child molestation charges, De Aragon said, “I have no idea. This, to me, I can’t explain it.”
De Aragon said he did touch the girls because they were having swim lessons. The defendant said he may have accidentally brushed the girls while teaching them to swim. He demonstrated how he interacted with the girls while in the pool with them.
“It’s very well possible that, when I’m pushing them back to the wall, and I’m pushing them back, there could have been accidental contact,” said De Aragon.
Two of the girls testified earlier this week that he put his hand inside their bathing suits.
When asked what part of his body De Aragon used to touch her privates, one of the girls said, “His whole hand.”
Jurors also saw video of the girls meeting with a police detective after the alleged crime. One of the victims told the law enforcer, “We were playing, and then when I was trying to try to swim, he was touching my bathing suit, and then he went under his hand, and then he touched my privates.”
When the detective asked one of the girls whether De Aragon touched her inside or outside her bathing suit, the girls replied, “Inside.”
The jury now has the case and is currently deliberating.
De Aragon faces life in prison if convicted, but the jury can also return a lesser conviction.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.