A 27-year-old California man has been sentenced to 34 years to life in prison for child molestation, authorities with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced late last week.
Rodolfo Duran pled guilty in April to sodomy of a child 10 years old or younger, as well as forcible sodomy of a child under the age of 14, related to crimes against two separate victims.
“Duran also admitted to the special allegations that the crimes involved great violence, he took advantage of a position of trust, and the victims were vulnerable,” a DA’s Office news release stated.
When one of the victims reported the crimes to her Santa Paula schoolteacher in 2018, detectives quickly identified a second victim and learned that Duran had been assaulting the victims for years.
“While being interviewed by detectives from the Santa Paula Police Department, Duran confessed to the allegations,” the release noted.
Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Moreno, a member of the DA’s Office Sexual Assault Unit, prosecuted the case and said he hoped the sentence provided some measure of justice for the victims.
“The victims in this case demonstrated incredible courage by reporting the unimaginable abuse they suffered at the hands of the defendant. It is my hope that today’s sentence provides them with a sense of closure and justice while also sending a clear message that child sexual abuse will not be tolerated in Ventura County,” Moreno said in the news release.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office added that they take allegations of sexual abuse very seriously, are committed to holding perpetrators of these crimes accountable and ensuring that victims are provided the resources and support they need to heal.
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