Petaluma resident Martin Pulido-Sanchez was sentenced Thursday to 165 years in prison for molesting his two young daughters over the course of nine years.
Last month, a jury found the 45-year-old Pulido-Sanchez guilty of eleven separate charges of engaging in lewd conduct with a child under the age of fourteen, in addition to finding that the acts involved substantial sexual conduct. Verdicts were returned on all counts charged within a few hours.
“The jury’s verdict ensures that this child molester will not be able to prey on another victim, and will be incarcerated for the rest of his life," said Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch. "The sentence is appropriate given the heinous crimes committed.”
According to Ravitch's office, Pulido-Sanchez molested his two biological daughters over a four year period, and included compelling testimony from the girls about the sexual abuse they were subjected to during childhood, which sometimes occurred weekly.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has refused to release photos of inmates, including Pulido-Sanchez citing a countywide policy.
One victim described how the defendant would order the victims to act as look-outs while he took turns molesting the other victim. Their older sister also testified, and described the horror and abuse she suffered at the hands of Mr. Pulido-Sanchez for nine years of her childhood.
It was after the defendant’s conviction for that abuse, and incarceration, that the younger children came forward and reported their victimization.
“What has not yet been completely examined and brought to light is the great psychological pain and deep seated suffering that has been inflicted on the victims of his crimes," one of the victims told the court in June.
"As a child taken advantage of and betrayed by the one person meant to protect and keep me from harm, I was helpless against his reign of terror. But today I have the courage to face the nightmare of my childhood and show him, myself, and this court that I am not a victim and that I will never be a victim again.”
