Jury hears final arguments in sex-abuse trial

Marisa O’Neil

A Corona del Mar woman accused of sexually molesting a teenage girl

blurred the line of sexually appropriate behavior with adults and

children, a prosecutor said during closing arguments Monday.

Prosecutor Jana Hoffmann described Victoria Hawlish, 41, as an

“openly sexual” woman who wanted approval from the alleged victim,

who was 15 at the time, and her school friends. Hawlish is accused of

inappropriately touching the girl on numerous occasions in 2003 while

the 15-year-old lived in the Corona del Mar home shared by Hawlish

and her husband.

“The defendant can live her life as sexually explicitly as she

wants to,” Hoffmann told jurors. “But when she crosses the line and

actually touches a child, the law does not allow that.”

The Daily Pilot does not name victims or alleged victims of sexual

assault.

Defense attorney Albert DeBlanc Jr. told jurors that the

accusations were nothing more than the girl’s word against Hawlish’s

-- a case of “she said, she said.”

Hawlish befriended the girl and her family when she lived in Los

Angeles county, DeBlanc said. Hawlish was struggling to make ends

meet as a stripper and felt an affinity with the troubled girl, he

said.

The girl later came to live with Hawlish and her new husband in

their Corona del Mar home, DeBlanc said.

The accusations came about when Hawlish’s husband, Jeff Hawlish,

asked the girl to move out of their home, DeBlanc said.

“She’s mad at Victoria Hawlish,” DeBlanc said. “She wanted to live

there in Corona del Mar.”

But the girl wanted to move out of the home because of ongoing

abuse, Hoffmann said. Victoria Hawlish had a continuing pattern of

inappropriate sexual behavior with the alleged victim, her friends

and her older sister, Hoffmann said.

“Adults and children blur in her mind,” Hoffmann told jurors. “She

doesn’t care that the victim is under 18. She is going to impose her

sexuality on this child.”

Victoria Hawlish is charged with five counts of performing lewd

acts upon a minor. Those stem from allegations about groping the

girl, forcing the girl to touch her, showering with the girl and

forcing the girl to play with sex toys.

If convicted, Hawlish could face up to 16 years in prison. But she

could also get probation, Hoffmann said.

The jury began deliberations at the end of the day Monday and is

expected to resume deliberations this morning.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.