Jury selection set for trial of Banning man accused of raping women, young girl
City News Service
BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – Jury selection is slated to get underway tomorrow for the trial of a 43-year-old Banning man accused of raping two women on separate occasions while they were intoxicated, as well as molesting his 12-year-old girl.
Steven Roy McElroy was arrested in 2022 following an extensive Banning Police Department investigation that relied on statements from alleged victims going back a decade.
McElroy is charged with two counts each of forcible rape and aggravated assault, as well as one count of lewd acts on a minor.
Pretrial motions were convened last week at the Banning Justice Center, and they continued Monday. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton ordered the prospective jury pool to appear at the courthouse Tuesday for screening.
McElroy is free on a $1 million bond.
The defendant was arrested and arraigned on the charge related to the 12-year-old girl in March 2022.
Banning police detectives received information afterward concerning two women who alleged they had been sexually assaulted by him on different occasions in 2015 and 2016.
According to Detective Jack Loera, the two women heard about the molestation charge filed in connection with the girl and decided to speak to police.
McElroy has a felony conviction in another jurisdiction that wasn’t listed in court documents.