Update: Plea Hearing Postponed for Man Charged with Sexually Assaulting Toddler

The plea hearing for Eugene Ramos, the Union City man arrested and charged with assaulting a 2-year-old inside a discount store in December, has been postponed to next month. 

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Dennis McLaughlin granted a motion to delay the defendant's plea hearing to Feb. 15. It will be Ramos's fifth court appearance.

According to Deputy District Attorney Teresa Ortega, the hearing was delayed in order to give public defender Kristen McCannon more time to review taped statements that Ramos made during police interviews. McCannon received the tapes recently, Ortega sid.

In custody since the Dec. 1 incident, Ramos, 36, had a thick beard as he entered the Fremont Hall of Justice court room about 9:40 a.m. for the brief proceeding.

Ramos was in December on charges of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, attempted unlawful intercourse with a child under the age of 10 and assault with the intent to commit rape.

On Dec. 1, Union City police say Ramos, a registered sex offender, at about 1 p.m. inside the  store in the Union Square Marketplace.

The victim was with her grandmother and aunt at the store. When they went to return a ribbon to a Christmas-themed aisle, the girl walked around the aisle and out of view. That's when she was grabbed by Ramos, police said.

Less than a minute later, the grandmother and aunt noticed the girl was missing and found her pinned down by Ramos in the next aisle, police said.

Surveillance footage at the discount store show Ramos running away as the girl's relatives give chase. Two men saw the suspect running away and tackled him. They held him down until police arrived.

Ramos, who has a prior conviction, could receive a maximum sentence of 21 years if he is convicted on all three current charges, prosecutors said.

Ramos was previously charged in January 2003 with sexually assaulting a 7-year-old child in Hayward. In that case, Ramos initially was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial and committed to Napa State Hospital. He was eventually found competent, convicted and sentenced to four years in state prison, according to court records. 

Though Ramos' family declined an interview with Union City Patch, Ramos' mother told KTVU in an off-camera interview that her son was "very, very sorry" and did not know what he was doing.

The family told reporters that Ramos suffers from anxiety and depression and was not taking his medication.