By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – Charges against a 38-year-old Alabaster man who has been charged with allegedly molesting a child younger than 12 is headed to a trial by jury, according to court documents filed on Nov. 3.

Roberto Villalobos Grimaldo, who lists an address in the 1200 block of Simmsville Road in Alabaster, was arrested by the Alabaster Police Department on Aug. 12, 2013, and charged him with one felony count of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12 after the victim’s mother reported her child allegedly was molested by the suspect.

Grimaldo was indicted on the charge in mid-June, and was arraigned on the charge in August, according to court documents. He has remained in the Shelby County Jail on a $30,000 bond since his 2013 arrest.

“This case is hereby continued generally to await placement on the court’s next available pre-trial docket,” read a scheduling order filed in Shelby County Circuit Court on Nov. 3.

According to Alabama law, a person “commits the crime of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old if he or she, being 16 years old or older, subjects another person who is less than 12 years old to sexual contact.”

Sexual abuse of a child younger than 12 is a Class B felony. If convicted of the crime Grimaldo could face between two and 20 years in prison.