Convicted Napa County Child Molester Jesus Manzo Gil Denied Parole: DA

NAPA COUNTY, CA — Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Friday that Jesus Manzo Gil was denied parole after a March 9 hearing that was held via teleconference before the State of California Board of Parole Hearings.

The denial imposed was for five years, pursuant to Marsy’s Law which was passed by the voters in the November 2008 general election.

Jesus Manzo Gil stands convicted of the molestation of two young girls, ages 5 and 9 at the time of the crimes. In December 2000 and January 2001, Gil, who was a friend of the family, provided childcare to the two young victims. Gil isolated the girls by telling their mother that it was good for her to have alone time with her husband.

On those occasions, Gil took the young girls to the flea market, bought them gifts and then took them back to his home where he would sexually molest them in his bedroom. Gil was 65 years old at the time of his crimes.

Gil was subsequently found guilty of felony crimes and special allegations following a jury trial in Napa Superior Court in 2003. Gil was sentenced to 44 years to life in state prison.

Gil, who is now 87 years old, has served 20 years and 5 months of his sentence.

Gil was eligible for parole this year under California’s “Elder Parole” Law, which permits parole hearings for many inmates once they serve 20 years and reach the age of 50.

According to the DA's Office, the consequence of this change in the law is the inability of victims and their families to rely on the sentences that were meted out decades prior.

"Inmate Jesus Gil poses the most chilling kind of threat possible to our community and his age does nothing to minimize that," said Deputy District Attorney Kristen Orlando, who appeared at the hearing.

Orlando argued against Gil's release based on "the callousness of the assault, his continued lack of insight into the events of the crime, his behavior while incarcerated, and the unreasonable danger he presents to the community should he be paroled," the DA's Office said.

The Board of Parole Hearings agreed Gil continued to pose a threat to public safety and denied his parole for five years.

"I am grateful for the bravery of the victims and their family in choosing to participate in this hearing to help ensure that Gil never has access to another child," Orlando said.

The Napa County District Attorney’s Office sends a representative to every parole hearing it opposes for defendants serving a life sentence for a Napa County crime.