When the Yuma police officer arrested on suspicion of inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor appeared before Yuma Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart Tuesday afternoon in Yuma Justice Court, he was informed that a criminal complaint had been filed against him charging him with three felony offenses.
As 25-year-old Ron Anton Ciancimino, who was being represented by attorney Marlo Arnold, stood listening, Stewart informed him that the Yuma County Attorney's Office has reviewed the case against him and was charging him with three counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.
In addition to setting his next court appearance for 4 p.m. on Oct. 1 for a preliminary hearing, Stewart also ordered that his bond remain set as a $109,906 cash-only bond.
Prior to that, however, Arnold had asked to speak to the court about the possibility of having the bond converted to a normal bond, and not cash only, or having her client released to some type of pre-trial supervision.
"As far as I'm aware, what we have here is a case where the victim and the victim's family have repeatedly stated that the defendant did not do anything inappropriate," Arnold said.
Arnold argued that her client is an U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq in 2009 and 2010, owns a home in Yuma, has never been in trouble with the law before and had a very supportive family. She added that he was also more than willing to submit to pre-trial supervision if he is able to bond out.
Despite there being no prosecutors in attendance to argue against Arnold's request, Stewart declined to grant it. Ciancimino, who was arrested Friday, has been employed by YPD as a patrol officer since May 2011, and has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Just as she did during his previous hearing, the alleged victim in this case spoke on Ciancimino's behalf again, saying the charges against him weren't true. The girl, 16, will not be identified by the Yuma Sun because she is both the alleged victim and a minor.
"Your honor, sir, he did not commit the crimes that they are charging him with. So the alleged charges that he is being charged with, that are being hung over his head, are false," she said. "And I have done research on the crimes from the Arizona law book. I have a paper here if you wish to see it. In order to sexually (exploit) a minor, it is basically child pornography. There were no pictures of any sexual preference exchanged or obtain between Mr. Ciancimino and myself."
After she finished her remarks, Stewart informed her that the court did not determine guilt or innocence and that she should go talk to prosecutors with the Yuma County Attorney's Office or to the victim's services department.
On Tuesday, deputies from the Yuma County Sheriff's Office were sent to Yuma Regional Medical Center after receiving reports that a 16-year-old girl at the hospital had been a victim of a possible sexual offense.
The deputies met with the victim and learned that 27-year-old Joshua Jonathan Alpizar and Ciancimino were potentially involved.
On Thursday, YCSO investigators contacted Alpizar at his residence in the 3000 block of West 8th Street. Alpizar reportedly admitted to the allegations and was arrested. He has since been charged with three felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of sexual expolitation of a minor and one count of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.
On Friday, with the assistance of YPD, YCSO investigators contacted Ciacimino at the police department and transported him to the detention center for questioning. He was later arrested and booked into jail.