UFC Champion Cain Velasquez granted $1million bail after pleading not guilty to attempted murder

Former UFC heavyweight Cain Velazquez was given a $1 million bail on Tuesday after serving eight months behind bars after being charged with the attempted murder of a man accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old relative of the star.

The two-time heavyweight champion, 40, was released after a pre-trial hearing lasted nearly 13 hours over two days in Santa Clara County. He has been charged with attempted murder and other firearms charges.

“This incident is extremely serious but appears to be isolated behavior from Mr Velasquez,” Judge Arthur Bocanegra said. “There is also a viable defense of passion.”

Velasquez will have to meet certain conditions of his release, including GPS monitoring, gun possession ban, outpatient TBI/CTE treatment, counseling, search and seizure conditions, and a protective warrant preventing him from being within 300 meters of victims to be located: Aguirre ‘Harry’ Goularte, Patricia Goularte and Paul Bender.

“It’s been a long struggle and I’m very grateful,” Velasquez’s attorney, Mark Geragos, told ESPN. “There’s nothing more moving than watching him sink in with his wife Michelle.”

Velasquez is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion who retired in 209 with a record of 14-3

Velasquez was denied bail four times before a Santa Clara County agreed to his release

Velasquez, who has been in prison since February, pleaded not guilty in August to this month’s preliminary investigation and had also been released on bail four times before by Judge Shelyna Brown.

The wrestler was arrested after chasing a pickup truck carrying Harry Goularte, who is accused of sexually abusing the wrestler’s four-year-old son, through busy streets in three Silicon Valley cities, ramming the vehicle with his own pickup. -up truck during an 18-mile (18-kilometer) high-speed chase, prosecutors said.

Velasquez fired a .40-caliber handgun at the vehicle several times, injuring Goularte’s stepfather and Paul Bender, who was driving the vehicle, prosecutors said. Goularte’s mother, Patricia, was also in the vehicle.

In February, Velasquez’s son told police that Goularte had taken him to the bathroom of a Patty’s Childcare in downtown San Martin — 34 minutes south of San Jose by car — where he then abused him by touching his genitals. hit, according to court documents.

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez (left) pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder in August after pursuing Harry Goularte (right) who is accused of sexually abusing the wrestler’s four-year-old son, among other children at a daycare where he was on duty

The minor went on to say that Goularte had asked him not to tell anyone about the incident and that this situation could have happened “100 times”.

The child also reportedly told the police that Goularte also went to the bathroom with other children. According to TMZ, he has already been charged once with a lewd and lascivious act of child abuse.

According to court documents, he was released without bail on February 25.

After the case was settled, Geragos said a hearing from Velasquez influenced Bocanegra’s bail.

Velasquez is now expected to be released as soon as Tuesday.

“Instead of listening to all this exaggeration and nonsense, we had a cross-examination hearing and witnesses under oath,” Geragos told ESPN.