Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing and triggering to readers. A former City of Orillia aquatic supervisor, accused by at least two teenage girls of sex crimes, has pleaded guilty to assaulting one of the teens. Still facing separate allegations of sexual assault and exploitation involving one of the children, 45-year-old Manuel Marroquin-Ramirez has been handed a suspended sentence for admitting to touching a then-17-year-old girl without her consent in March 2022. The Agreed Statement of Facts were put on the record by the Crown in a Bradford courtroom Monday, where Marroquin-Ramirez pleaded guilty to touching teenage girl’s upper body while she was alone with him in his car. The complainant said she felt uncomfortable and pulled away from him. She came forward to police in 2024 when Marroquin-Ramirez was charged after another teen reported being sexually violated by the accused. The court heard, as part of the plea deal that began in an Orillia courtroom before Justice Craig Brannagan, that the complainant and Marroquin-Ramirez previously had exchanged phone numbers and had regular conversations over the course of eight months between 2021 and 2022. They often communicated over text message, the court heard. Marroquin-Ramirez admitted to making comments about the girl’s appearance suggesting that she apply to become a lifeguard and work with him. “I feel sadness, disappointment, and shame. I was still a child, and I struggle with the fact that an adult in a position of authority over children could speak to a minor that way,” said the complainant in her victim impact statement read by Crown Attorney Elizabeth Stokes. “An adult in that position should know better,” she added. “Children should be able to feel safe around the people they are meant to trust.” Marroquin-Ramirez was fired from his job as an aquatic supervisor with the City of Orillia following his arrest. The court heard he is studying business at Georgian College and plans to marry his partner of 13 years. Justice Brannagan accepted the joint submission from the Crown and defence and sentenced Marroquin-Ramirez to probation for two years. He is ordered not to have contact with or be anywhere near the complainant, or work or volunteer while in a position of trust or authority with anyone under the age of 18. The judge also ordered him to provide his DNA to police. Police initially charged Marroquin-Ramirez with several sex crimes including luring a person over telecommunication, communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services and supplying alcohol to a person under 19 in exchange for explicit images. The Crown withdrew the more serious charges as part of the guilty plea. Marroquin-Ramirez is represented by defence lawyer Michael Bury. A trial to address the separate charges of sexual exploitation and sexual assault against Marroquin-Ramirez, stemming from allegations in Aug. 2024, involving a second complainant, is set to begin in December. The remaining allegations against him have not been tested in court.
