Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 09/02/2009

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Terry Menshek - (707) 565-3098 Media Spokesperson, Deputy District Attorney Tashawn Sanders

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

CHILD MOLESTER TO SERVE 28 YEAR PRISON TERM

Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that on August 27, 2009, Jose Juan Benavides-Gonzalez, 39, entered a plea to five felony charges.  These charges relate to a series of molests and forcible rapes perpetrated by Benavides beginning in 1997 and continuing into 2008.  Benavides entered pleas to violations of Penal Code section 288.5, Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child; two counts of Penal Code Section 289(j) Digital Penetration of a Child under the Age of 14 Years and More than 10 Years Younger than the Defendant; Penal Code Section 288(c)(1) Lewd and Lascivious Act on a Child under the Age of 14 Years; and Penal Code Section 261(a)(2) Forcible Rape.

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua stated, “The lengthy prison sentence will prevent this defendant from preying on children in the future.”

Over a period of ten years, Benavides molested and forcibly raped the victim who was five years old at the time of the first molest.  The defendant is the victim’s uncle.  His crimes against the victim took place in Windsor, Santa Rosa, and Petaluma.

Benavides will be sentenced on September 29, 2009, at 9 a.m. in Department 4 to a total term of 28 years 8 months in state prison.  By law he must serve a minimum of 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole and must register as a sex offender as a result of his plea.

Deputy District Attorneys Juliette Olson and Rosanne T. Darling handled the prosecution, assisted by District Attorney Investigator Lisa Chapman.  Detective Paul Gilman of the Petaluma Police Department was the lead investigator.