Youngsters, 2 younger kids touring with a lady charged with prison sexual conduct have been delivered to security
Brian Ballardo and Julianna Gutierrez
LAFAYETTE, Minnesota (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the missing runaway teen and two young children who were traveling with a woman accused of having a baby with the teen were safely found in Wyoming state.
Julianna Gutierrez, 28, faces ten criminal sexual acts and parental or custody charges, according to the indictment filed Monday. The BCA said she was “currently on supervised release” for first-degree criminal sexual assault, but at around 6:30 pm on Friday, authorities asked the public for help to determine her whereabouts. The missing person alarm was canceled on Friday around 10:15 p.m.
Under a protection order, Gutierrez was ordered not to have any contact with 15-year-old Brian Ballardo, according to the BCA. Gutierrez and Ballardo told law enforcement they were a couple, the indictment said.
Ballardo was traveling with Gutierrez with a two year old and a one month old in a white 2011 Hyundai Sonata with California license plate 6MTU971. The Nicollet County Sheriff’s office said Gutierrez and the three children were found safely in Wyoming state Friday night.
According to the charges, Ballardo’s mother reported that the 15-year-old teen went missing from California on November 23 last year and that he may be with Gutierrez. Nicollet County’s law enforcement agencies received several tips on Nov. 9 about Ballardo and how he might live with Gutierrez and be the father of a newborn.
Investigators then determined that Gutierrez may live in Nicollet County after their vehicle was stopped twice in the area. In September, a man posing as “Juan Gutierrez” was driving her car when it stopped in Sibley County. Law enforcement officials thought “Juan Gutierrez” was a false name and later found it to be Ballardo. On November 4th, she was stopped while driving in Lafayette. Ballardo was in the passenger seat and two small children were in the back of the car.
Law enforcement officers carried out a search warrant on November 11th on the Gutierrez address in Lafayette, Minnesota. The officers found the defendant, the missing teenager, a two-year-old and a two-week-old child in the one-room apartment. Gutierrez has no custody of either child, according to the BCA.
The indictment states that Ballardo told law enforcement officials that the two-week-old was his child and that it was impossible for anyone to be the father since he and Gutierrez had been together for more than ten months. Gutierrez told law enforcement officials that she has known him for years and that they “recently became friends”. She also said they traveled to Minnesota about four to five months earlier.
Gutierrez’s next virtual court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 30th at 10.15am. If she does not show up for the trial, she faces further criminal charges.
The BCA said Gutierrez and Ballardo were both from California, and Gutierrez had connections in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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