An Alameda County Superior Court judge has ruled that a Livermore man accused of raping a 6-year-old boy is an adult and not a juvenile, as the defendant claimed...

Maldonado is accused of forcibly raping and assaulting the boy numerous times since February 2006. He is charged with four counts of intercourse or sodomy on a child younger than 10 years old and four counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child....

 Hilton said she thinks the defense tried to manipulate the justice system to get Maldonado a lighter sentence.