Orosi man sentenced to 711 years for sex crimes
VISALIA — A 38-year-old Orosi man was sentenced Monday to 711 years to life in prison for molesting four girls under the age of 12 over the past five years, a spokesperson for the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said.
A jury found Jose Adalberto Garcia guilty on Dec. 7 of 26 separate sex crimes against the girls, ranging in age from 5 to 12 years, said Assistant District Attorney Shani Jenkins.
Garcia was arrested April 20, 2009, after the mother of one of the girls called the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department. Because the sex crimes involved more than one victim, Garcia will not be eligible for parole until he has served 711 years. Because the defendant was convicted of enumerated sex offenses against more than one victim, Tulare County Superior Court Judge Gerald Sevier was able to sentence him to life in prison under the “One Strike” law.
The identities of the victims were kept confidential, Jenkins said, but did acknowledge Garcia had access to the children because of family relations.
“I have been with the District Attorney’s Office for 11 years now. Besides sentences on murder cases, which involve life without the possibility of parole on occasion, this is the longest sentence I have ever seen,” Jenkins said. “The goal of such a sentence is to insure that he never harms another a child. This sentence will definitely do that.”
The judge also ordered the Orosi man to pay a $10,000 fine in restitution, register as a sex offender, submit to AIDS testing and provide DNA samples.
