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A preliminary hearing on child molestation charges was held on Aug. 22 in the case of Jeremiah John Chamness, age 32.
Chamness was accused of three incidents of child molestation that were alleged to have occurred during a family camping trip in August of 2010 in El Dorado County.
The victim was 14 years of age when the alleged molestations took place. Her cousin was Chamness’ girlfriend at the time and the father of her cousin’s child.
The Livermore Police Department was informed of the incident in December of 2010. A forensic exam of the victim was conducted on Jan. 5, 2011 and a complaint was filed on Feb. 8, 2012. Detective Dirk Stoddard, who works for the Livermore Police Department, testified at the preliminary hearing. He said he did not conduct the interview of the victim but watched it on a TV monitor and later talked to the victim.
After Stoddard’s testimony and questioning by Public Defender Clifford Safranski, Judge Phimister ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold the defendant over on five felony counts. The charges were three counts of anal and genital penetration by a foreign object; one count of oral copulation of a person under the age of 16; and one count of a lewd act upon a child.
The case is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 7 in Department 2.
Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or dhodson@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter.
