LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – A Lake Havasu City man faces decades behind bars following convictions for three counts of sexual conduct with a minor. A Mohave County Superior Court jury deliberated less than one half-hour Tuesday before returning guilty verdicts in the trial of Adrian Cruz-Black, 25.
The victim testified that she was 14 years old when she met Black at a Dec. 2024 bonfire and that they began hanging out and having sex a couple of weeks later. Now 16, the victim told the jury that she introduced Cruz-Black as a 17-year-old before her mother allowed him to stay overnight in her bedroom with her a number of times.
“He knew she was 14. He was 24,” prosecutor Leah Nelson told the jury during her opening statement Monday. “He knew it was wrong, and yet they did it anyway.”
The teenager testified that police were called in when she told her mother that Cruz-Black was in his 20’s rather than 17.
Nelson said Cruz-Black faces a prison punishment range of 39 to 60 years in prison when sentenced Sept. 9. The court will conduct status conferences regarding how attorneys intend to resolve two remaining criminal cases pending against Cruz-Black.
One case involves an assault, while the other alleges destruction of jail property while incarcerated.
