TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KMJ) – A 39-year-old man has been sentenced 401 years to life in prison for several violent sex crimes.
A judge in Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Macario Cerda on Jan. 17.
Back on Dec. 4, a jury found Cerda guilty on three counts of forcible rape, one count of kidnapping to commit rape, one count of criminal threats, and seven counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of fourteen.
On February 26, 2013, Cerda, while in a relationship with the victim’s mother, forced one of the victims into his van and drove her to a remote location, then raped her while threatening to harm other members of her family.
During the rape, the victim’s mother called her cell phone and overheard yelling, and immediately called police.
When Cerda temporarily exited the van, the victim seized her opportunity to escape by jumping into the driver’s seat and driving away.
Tulare County Sheriff’s deputies later caught and arrested him.
During the investigation, it was doscovered the victim had been raped by Cerda when she was minor in 2010, resulting in a pregnancy and birth of a baby.
Her younger sister also revealed that Cerda had raped and abused her beginning in 2009 when she was also a child.
Court records show Cerda has prior convictions for felony domestic violence and criminal threats against the victims’ mother.
Tulare County DA Tim Ward said behind the closed doors of this family, the women and girls suffered greatly from the ongoing and horrific violence at his hands.
In court, the youngest victim described Cerda’s actions, such as holding a knife to her sister’s throat and all the ramifications of his sex crimes by starting every description of each act with the words “I forgive you for”
According to court records, after his prior conviction, Cerda had been deported and returned within five months. Soon after that, the crimes were committed.
“This family will never have to live in fear of Cerda returning to terrorize them again. He will be serving his remaining days in a California prison,” stated District Attorney Ward. “Criminals can, and will, find their way back to hurt the vulnerable. The courage of these women to stand up and rally back against this heartless predator is what gives all of us strength to battle for justice. This time, he is not coming back.”
District Attorney Ward says the victim cautioned the judge to “never grant him any possibility at being deported because he has crawled his way back into the States illegally way too many times.”
