For Immediate Release | Susan Kang Schroeder Farrah Emami |
MAN SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS TO LIFE FOR CHRISTMAS EVE SEXUAL ASSAULT OF 8-YEAR-OLD FEMALE RELATIVE INCLUDING ORAL COPULATION AND RAPE AND/OR SODOMY
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to 40 years and eight months to life in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old female relative, including oral copulation and rape and/or sodomy, on Christmas Eve while family members slept in other rooms. Jorge Miguel Gallegos, 38, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury April 2, 2012, of one felony count of sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child, two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child, and one felony count each of digital penetration of a child under 10, lewd acts on a child under 14, and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.
At approximately 11:00 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2009, Gallegos took his 8-year-old female relative, Jane Doe, into the kitchen of his Santa Ana home after other family members had gone to sleep. He sexually assaulted the child including sodomizing and/or raping and orally copulating her. The defendant’s wife walked into the kitchen and witnessed the molestation.
Gallegos ripped the telephone from the wall and threatened his wife not to tell anyone about the sexual assault. The defendant then fled the scene and went to a friend’s house. Gallegos’ wife called 911 and the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) responded to the scene. Gallegos was arrested shortly thereafter, in the early morning hours of Dec. 25, 2009.
A subsequent investigation by SAPD revealed a second unreported sexual assault from a prior time. On one other occasion between September and December 2009, Gallegos sexually assaulted Jane Doe in his home including the same conduct as on Christmas Eve.
Gallegos’ lifetime sex offender registration would bar him from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance if he were to be granted parole in the future. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 12 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance including Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, La Habra, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Seal Beach, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
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