| For Immediate Release March 8, 2007 |
Contact: Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486 |
NEIGHBOR TO BE SENTENCED FOR
MOLESTING 6-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO
PLAYED AT HIS HOUSE WITH HIS CHILDREN
SANTA ANA – A father of three will be sentenced tomorrow for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old neighbor girl who would come to his house to play with his children. Jay Richard Settanni, 60, San Juan Capistrano, was convicted on February 14, 2007, of eight counts of lewd acts upon a child. Settanni faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow, Friday March 9, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-37, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Between January 1, 2000 and May 28, 2004, Settanni, a self-employed dry-wall contractor, sexually assaulted a young girl when she was six to nine years old. The victim, Jane Doe, would come to Settanni’s house to play with his three children, and he would molest her when they were alone or while his daughter was present in the room. Jane Doe told her parents about the three and a half years of molest after a teacher at school spoke to her class about inappropriate touching.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence from an adult woman who testified that she had been sexually assaulted by the defendant when she was a young adult.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Beth Carmichael of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
###