Settlement attempt fails; accused child molester headed for trial

Zucco told Cochise County Superior Court Judge Jason Lindstrom — who was overseeing the settlement proceeding — that the two sides were “years apart” in their negotiations. Zucco later said that meant both sides were proposing prison sentences for Guillen that were very different in the number of years.

Zucco also told the judge that a formal plea offer had not been drafted for the 55-year-old defendant.

After the hearing, which ended at about 3 p.m., Zucco said it’s unlikely another settlement conference would occur.

“He will probably go to trial in the fall,” she said.

Guillen faces more than 80 criminal charges ranging from sexual exploitation of a minor and sexual assault to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and kidnapping, Sierra Vista Police have said.

Guillen was charged with a handful of offenses related to child molestation from his arrest in May 2021. But Sierra Vista Police detectives added 76 more violations in the summer of 2021 stemming from evidence taken from Guillen’s apartment when he was initially apprehended and from a new victim who surfaced in July 2021 and whose alleged abuse occurred more than two decades ago, police said.

The 74 new charges include 37 counts of recording sexually explicit material of a minor and 37 counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a minor, investigators said.

The other two charges include kidnapping and a fraud scheme police believe occurred in either 1992 or 1993. The victim in that instance was contacted by detectives in July 2021, Sierra Vista Police Detective John Andela said at the time.

According to a probable cause report filed with the Sierra Vista Justice Court in early 2021, the case against Guillen started building in April of that year when he told his probation officer — he was on probation for DUI-related offenses — that he was “working out” and “hanging out” with a 13-year-old boy whom he described as being “handsome” and having “beautiful eyes,” the report shows.

The probation officer contacted her supervisor and described her chat with Guillen as “very creepy and inappropriate,” the report states. Adult probation officers and police then searched Guillen’s house and found items forbidden under the terms of his probation.

They also searched Guillen’s phone and discovered conversations between Guillen and a boy that included Guillen telling the youngster that he loved him and wanted pictures of him flexing his muscles without a shirt, the report shows.

Police assisted in that search, charging Guillen at the time with violating the terms of his probation, the report shows. Investigators also uncovered a stash of pornographic videos involving young males, as well as property belonging to a boy, in Guillen’s bedroom.

The probable cause report also reveals grim details of how Guillen filmed his victims in a bathroom at his residence on Bella Vista Drive. Investigators were able to identify images of at least nine boys in the videos taken from a hidden camera, some as young as 10 years of age, the report shows.

Guillen continues being held at the Cochise County Jail without bond.

His next hearing is schedule for Jan. 30. Zucco said a trial date will probably be set at that proceeding.