Woman pleads guilty in sexual abuse of Coachella Valley girl

A 33-year-old woman accused of facilitating repeated acts of sexual abuse against a Coachella Valley girl at the hands of a Palm Springs man pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 60 months of probation today.  

Aura Rivera Vidal of Coachella was arrested in February 2021 and charged with one felony count of willful child cruelty and one misdemeanor count of witness intimidation.

Vidal appeared at the Larson Justice Center on Wednesday, where she pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 60 months of probation by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini.

According to Sgt. Christopher Ternes of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, the investigation of Vidal was initiated after the arrest of 46-year-old Jesus Lucio Rivera, who is charged with two counts each of aggravated sexual assault of child, forcible rape of a minor and lewd acts on a child under 14 years old. 

Court papers allege that between October 2017 and April 2019, the defendant perpetrated the offenses at a residence.  

Rivera's relationship to the girl, if any, was not disclosed.   

He was arrested on Feb. 10, 2021 and pleaded not guilty to all six counts. He's being held on $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Ternes said the ensuing investigation of Vidal revealed that she was aware of "the crimes Rivera committed, and she was responsible for the well- being of the victim during the period the victim was sexually assaulted."

Vidal's relationship to the child also was not divulged.   

Neither she nor Rivera has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County. Rivera was scheduled to appear later Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on his charges.