Former Probation Worker To Stand Trial For Molestation

A former Riverside County Probation Department employee must stand trial on charges that he sexually assaulted an underage relative more than a decade ago, a judge ruled today.

Donald Monplaisir, 54, of La Quinta is charged with 47 counts of rape by force and a dozen counts of lewd acts with a child under 16 years old.

After hearing testimony from the alleged victim, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard Erwood ruled there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.

The judge ordered Monplaisir to return to court on June 1 for a post- indictment arraignment.

Monplaisir was arrested in March 2009, after a family member came forward to allege that he began having sex with her in 1987, when she was 11 years old and visited him in New York, according to court papers.

She told family members about the alleged abuse, but was rejected in “disbelief and was told not to speak about it,” according to sheriff’s Investigator James Roy.

The alleged victim told investigators she eventually moved into Monplaisir’s La Quinta resdience, and he had sex with her several times a week until she was 18 years old.

The alleged sexual abuse ended in 1996, but she said she did not come forward until 2009 because Monplaisir threatened to commit suicide if she did so.

During a March 3, 2009, recorded conversation, Monplaisir allegedly acknowledged the sexual abuse and told the alleged victim he was sorry for hurting her and regretted his actions, describing himself as a “monster,” according to court papers.

When confronted by investigators two days later, Monplaisir denied having a sexual relationship with the family member.