Man Convicted of Child Molestation for Sexually Assaulting Multiple Minors in Sacramento (CA Penal Code 288)

41-year old man (name withheld in order to protect the privacy of the accused) who had already done time in jail for armed robbery, has been sentenced by a Sacramento court to 390 years to life in state prison plus 65 years.  He was convicted this past July of several different cases of lewd acts with a minor involving 3 different underage victims.  Evidently, he went so far as to threaten to end one girl’s life if she ever told anyone about his assaulting her sexually.  The girl told one of her classmates anyway and also informed law enforcement officials that she had seen him sexually assaulting minors.  After this, he kidnapped another young victim and took her out of state.  His youngest victim seems to have been a boy who claims he was molested at the age of 4.

California Penal Code 288 covers ‘Lewd Acts with a Child Under the Age of 14’ (more commonly referred to as ‘child molestation’).  Normally, if a child under the age of 14 has been molested, the assailant will likely receive a sentence of 8 years in state prison.  However, if any kind of threats or force was used, that sentence can quickly grow to 10 years and to 16 years of there are 3 or more incidents with the same victim for 3 or more months in a row.

So, how did he receive such a lengthy sentence?  Clearly, the number of incidences and victims add up.  Yet, it must also be remembered that each count of child molestation is considered a strike under the California Three Strikes Law, implemented in 1994 to deter offenders from repeatedly committing felonies.  This law alone means that any time an individual person is convicted of a third felony, mandatory sentencing goes into effect and that person must spend 25 years to life in prison.