Man Convicted Of Molesting 7 Monterey Co. Children

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA — A Seaside man has been found guilty of molesting seven children, Monterey County's district attorney announced Wednesday. Juan Francisco Gonzalez, 57, has been found guilty of three counts of a lewd act on a child under the age of 14 and five counts of continuous sexual abuse on a child under the age of 14, according to Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo.

The jury, composed of eight men and four women, deliberated for four hours after hearing testimony from seven victims ranging in age from 9 to 17, the district attorney's office said. In 2015, one of the victims reported that she was touched in 2014 by Gonzalez, who is her brother's uncle, the district attorney's office said.

In the course of two weeks, six more victims came forward to the Seaside Police Department and reported inappropriate sexual contact with Gonzalez, the district attorney's office said. The victims were interviewed
at the Archer Child Advocacy Center and Bates-Eldredge Child Sex Abuse Clinic.

The interviews revealed that Gonzalez had been molesting young girls from 2010 through 2015, the district attorney's office said. Gonzalez faces a maximum sentence of 175 years to life. He will be sentenced Oct. 25, according to the district attorney's office.

By Bay City News

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