After years of allegations and a trial that was already well underway, 69-year-old Sergio Emilio Perez-Juarez has been sentenced to 20 years in state prison for sexually abusing three children over multiple years. The San Mateo County court signed off on a negotiated deal, bringing the long-running case to a close just as it was moving deeper into trial.
Plea and charges
Perez-Juarez entered a no contest plea to one count of felony forcible lewd act with a child and one count of felony continuous child molestation. The plea was tied to a negotiated 20-year prison term. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop several other counts, including additional alleged lewd acts and sexual-assault charges. The court accepted the agreement this week, according to the East Bay Times.
Victims and timeline
Prosecutors say two of the victims were sisters whose family had taken in Perez-Juarez and allowed him to live with them. A third child was allegedly abused after he moved to a different residence. Court documents outline several multi-year stretches of abuse starting in 2012 and continuing into 2021. As reported by AOL, the charged timeframes span from mid-2012 to 2015, from 2014 to 2018, and from early 2020 into 2021.
Court reaction and legal orders
The case had already reached the eighth day of a jury trial when one victim declined to testify, a development that led prosecutors to accept the plea deal, according to the district attorney's office. Shin-Mee Chang of the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office said, "Given the state of the evidence at the time the plea was entered, we think that this was a just outcome." Prosecutors also said Perez-Juarez will be required to register as a sex offender and will be subject to 10-year no-contact orders with the victims once he completes his prison term. His defense was handled by attorney Gabriela Guraiib, according to the East Bay Times.
What happens next
Perez-Juarez remains in custody without bail while the judgment is finalized, prosecutors said. Local reporting notes that the sentence effectively ends a lengthy investigation and that the court's orders are designed to protect the victims both during his incarceration and after he is released. For additional background on the case, see Patch.
