Edwardo E. Barro-Celerino waits to be taken back down to the jail following his arraignment in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 12-year-old girl who found a stranger in her Centralia bedroom told him she had to use the bathroom to get away from him, and then went and got an adult in another part of the home, according to court papers.
The girl, who is identified only by her initials, told deputies the man put his hand up her shirt attempting to pull it up and also tried to put his hand down her pants, according to charging documents from the Sunday night incident on the 1600 block of Windsor Avenue.
When the adult confronted the stranger who appeared intoxicated, and asked him what he was doing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, he answered: “Trying to get some,” and then left. The sheriff’s office thinks he came in through an unlocked back door.
The suspect, Edwardo E. Barro-Celerino, 22, lives nearby in the same neighborhood. Wet footprints led responding law enforcement officers to a sliding door at his home, where he was found passed out in a bedroom, according to authorities.
Barro-Celerino pleaded not guilty today in Lewis County Superior Court to attempted child molestation in the second degree and first-degree burglary.
He sat quietly beside a Spanish language interpreter in the Chehalis courtroom. His family hired defense attorney Robert Brungardt to represent him.
Barro-Celerino has no prior felonies, has lived in the area for two to three years, earning about $1,000 a month working for the Roof Doctor, a judge was told when he was brought into court earlier this week.
While the sheriff’s office booked Barro-Celerino on Sunday for attempted rape of a child, prosecutors instead charged him with attempted child molestation in the second degree.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said today the facts of the case better fit that charge.
It’s a class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Charging documents also note Barro-Celerino was armed with a deadly weapon, but the narrative in the affidavit of probable cause makes no mention of a weapon being used or displayed.
He is being held in the Lewis County Jail on $75,000 bail. A hold has been placed on him by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, presumably because the federal agency wants him for some issue, according to his previous temporary attorney.
The sheriff’s office initially reported the suspect’s name as Eduardo E. Barro-Cellesino. Sheriff’s spokesperson Chief Criminal Deputy Brown said the name on charging documents is listed in their database as an “also known as”.
Brown also said the suspect was found in a neighbor’s house, uninvited, but where he was known. Charging documents however show the mobile home space number where he was found as his residence.
“There were language barriers,” Brown said.
A trial date is set for the week of Jan. 7.
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For background, read “News brief: Centralia girl finds stranger in her bedroom, man arrested” from Tuesday November 13, 2012, here
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