YOUNGSTOWN — Cipriano Ruiz, 45, of Dearborn Avenue, went on trial Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on two counts of gross sexual imposition, and is accused of touching a child under 13 years old.

The trial resumes today before Judge Anthony D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Daniel Yozwiak, county assistant prosecutor, told jurors in opening statements that Ruiz sexually abused the girl on two occasions between August and October 2022 in the city. Yozwiak said the Ruiz family and the child’s family knew each other, and Ruiz “shattered her innocence.”

Yozwiak said during the trial, jurors were going to hear from a school counselor to whom the girl disclosed the incidents, as well as the girl’s mother and the child herself. He noted that in cases like this, children are often taken to the Child Advocacy Center at Akron Children’s Hospital in Boardman to be examined and interviews are conducted. Two professionals from that facility also will testify in the case, he said.

One is a certified nurse practitioner who carries out such examinations. The other is an independent licensed social worker. Both will “detail the process of how they examine children who report sexual abuse.”

Law enforcement officers involved in the investigation also will testify, he said.

Frank Cassese, one of the attorneys representing Ruiz, said he thinks everyone will agree that “the government can get things wrong. Government policies are formulated with good intent, but sometimes they cause more harm than good.”

He said “When something is done because it has to be done, not because it should be done, the system fails everybody,” Cassese said.

The “state of Ohio mandates educators to immediately report any allegation of sexual abuse or face criminal prosecution,” he said.

He said that sounds OK “in theory.” But in this case, a school guidance counselor will testify that she reported the allegation to Mahoning County Children Services, which contacted the Youngstown Police Department, which contacted the Child Advocacy Center, he said.

Several people there interviewed the child for 10 minutes in March 2023. Cassese said he believes that no further investigation took place after that interview.

Ruiz grew up in Youngstown and earned a bachelor’s degree in business and started his own business. He inherited quite a lot of money when his father died. He is married to a teacher in Youngstown City Schools, and they had twin children, but they were born premature. They spent $80,000 of their own money as a result of the costs associated with the twins.

During the time of the allegations, the couple spent six months at a hospital in Akron after the twins’ birth, Cassese said.

Cassese said there will be testimony during the trial “about a house fire, and its extraordinary timing,” though he did not explain what that testimony will prove.

He concluded, “We have a duty to protect kids, no doubt. We also have a duty to protect the innocent. We have a duty to thoroughly investigate accusations of this magnitude.”

If Ruiz is convicted, he could get about six years in prison.

Have an interesting story? Email Ed Runyan at erunyan@tribtoday.com.