Man Pleads No Contest to Molesting Stepdaughter

Just as the trial was set to begin for a San Bruno man accused of molesting his 15-year-old stepdaughter, he pleaded no contest to the charges Monday. 

Rohit Dhir, 30, was facing 14 counts of engaging in a lewd act with a minor for molesting his stepdaughter over the course of more than a year from when they lived in India to 2007, when they were living in San Bruno. 

But on the day that the prosecution was getting ready to present its opening statements, Dhir pleaded guilty to two of the molestation charges. During a morning hearing, the court discovered that Dhir didn't fully understand his Miranda rights, which were read in both Hindi and English, when he was arrested. 

A new offer was then made, and Dhir accepted through a Punjabi interpreter. 

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Karesh sentenced Dhir to six years in prison with credit for two years and 48 days already served. Dhir was also ordered to register as a lifelong sex offender was he gets released.

According to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, Dhir began molesting his stepdaughter when they lived in India. The molestation, which included fondling and oral copulation, continued when the family emigrated to San Bruno until November 2007, the district attorney's office said. 

The stepdaughter tried to report the molestation claims to her mother, but her mother ignored them, the district attorney's office said. The stepdaughter later ended up in foster care and is now in college. 

Dhir's attorney denied all the charges and claimed that the stepdaughter made up a story because Dhir was opposed to her getting an education and wanted her to have an arranged marriage.