A Yonkers man accused of sexually abusing a pre-teen girl multiple times over five years admitted to detectives that he recorded one such occasion to protect himself in case he was ever accused of forcing her into sexual activity.
The interrogation last year of Rolando Ruiz by Yonkers special victim detectives Dawn Lebzelter and Kujtim Rugova was played at his trial in Westchester County Court on Monday, Oct. 5.
Ruiz is charged with predatory sexual assault of a child, which could land him in prison for life; first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child; use of a child in a sexual performance; and possession of an obscene sexual performance by a child.
Ruiz was arrested the morning of April 6, 2025, hours after police learned that two
videos of the girl performing oral sex on him the year before were found on his cell phone. He was not told of the allegations.
Before the detectives' questioning of him began later that day, the camera was recording him alone in the room. He wondered aloud what he was there for but expressed certainty that the person who had told police about the videos was trying to ruin his life.
He told the detectives he had 12 children - although he could not remember the names of three or four of them. He said he was a sexton, or maintenance worker, at Community Baptist Church in Yonkers.
When Lebzelter asked if his phone contained any videos of his engaging in sexual activity with a girl he answered no. But then he said he didn't want to lie - there was one, from a long time ago, he couldn't say when.
He said the girl "was trying to get me to do something."
He insisted he didn't force the girl. "That's why I recorded," he told the detectives. "That way I could cover my ass."
It was unclear which of the two videos authorities found that he was acknowledging. The girl was either 10 or 11 at the time - and no girl that age could legally consent to sexual activity.
But moments later he asked for a lawyer, telling the detectives he thought someone was trying to "trap me with all this bull(expletive)...I don't think it's right."
They stopped asking him questions - although Rugova told him he didn't think the person who reported Ruiz to police had put the videos on his phone.
But the camera continued to record over the next half hour as he sat alone again. Despite his earlier admission, he denied that the video was him with the girl and suggested another man who might have been the one in the video. He bemoaned that he would be losing his kids and his job "over bull(expletive) lies."
On questioning by Assistant District Attorney Owein Levin, Lebzelter described the two videos, acknowledging that the man's face could not be seen.
But she detailed several reasons why she knew the man was Ruiz: his voice matched that of the man she interrogated; he had a distinctive tattoo that matched the one on Ruiz's arm; and Reebok lettering on the boxer shorts the man in the video wore were the same as the underwear Ruiz could be seen wearing when he was handcuffed.
She agreed with defense lawyer Joanna Karlitz on cross examination that Reebok was a common brand.
The trial before Westchester Judge Robert Prisco resumes Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers man admitted to cops he took video of sex activity with girl
