Fresno judge sentences man who was called a monster for molesting 8-year-old child
.jpeg "Jesus Tapia, 33, of Fresno was sentenced to 39 years to life for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl and possessing thousands of child porn images.")
A 33-year-old Fresno man who had admitted to molesting an 8-year-old girl and possessing thousands of images of child pornography was sentenced Friday to prison for 39 years to life.
Jesus Tapia IV did not speak at his sentencing. At times, he hung his head low as prosecutor Kaitlin Drake read five letters from family members of the victim. They chose not to attend the hearing.
The relatives voiced their sadness and anger at having been fooled by Tapia as someone they though they could trust. Tapia lived with the victim and her mother.
“We thought we really knew who Jesus was and we trusted him,” one of the victim’s relatives wrote. “All those times when my cousin would want to stay over at our house, I thought she was in a mood, but she did not want to go home by herself with that monster.”
In their investigation, police discovered more than 5,000 child sexual assault photos and videos on Tapia’s phone. After reviewing the material further, detectives found images of Tapia sexually molesting a then-8-year-old child with whom he lived with.
He was arrested last June and charged with 12 felonies, including sexual intercourse with a minor, lewd or lascivious acts with a minor and possession of child pornography.
On Aug. 27, he pleaded no contest to six felonies: one count of sexual intercourse with a child; four counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor; and one count of possession of child pornography.
The victim’s mother said it pains her to see what her now-10-year-old daughter is going through.
“I see a heaviness in her eyes as she tries to make sense in her brain of why this happened to her,” the mother wrote. “I am told that as long as I am by her side and show her tons of love she will be okay. But I contemplate if I am good enough for this task because I am broken in trying to understand.”
The mother said her daughter doesn’t talk to her about what happened. And she worries how this will shape her life as she grows up.
“Everything in her world is a struggle, even with weekly therapy she stays in her imaginary world because that is where she feels safe,” the mother wrote. “It breaks my heart that she has to go on and take this with her the rest of her life. I beg and I pray that one day she will find peace and be happy.”
Drake said she hope Tapia never gets out of prison so that he won’t have the chance to abuse another child.
