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California Judge Gives Father 1,503-Year Prison Sentence For Raping 14-Year-Old Daughter – Longest Sentence In Fresno History

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 22:14 PST, Oct 22, 2016

In a decision that is being celebrated for its marked difference from recent sentences doled out for rape, a judge in Fresno, California, sentenced a father to 1,503 years in prison for the repeated rape of his 14-year-old daughter. The man had been found guilty of raping his daughter numerous times over a four-year period.

On Friday, Fresno prosecutor Nicole Galstan asked Judge Edward Sarkisian Jr. to pass the sentence of 1,503 years to a father who had raped his teenage daughter. Forty-one-year-old Rene Lopez now has claim to the longest-known prison sentence assigned to anyone in the history of the Fresno Superior Court. This is the first high profile rape case in recent times that has gained attention for the sentencing of the rapist offering any actual semblance of justice to the victims.

Outrage had followed after ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was sentenced to six months in jail and only served three months before being released, and last week a Montana man who was convicted of felony incest after raping his 12-year-old daughter only being sentenced to 60 days in jail. However, Rene Lopez had been raping his teenage daughter for over four years, ending in 2013, and had already been found guilty of 186 felony counts of sexual assault, which included dozens of counts of rape of a minor.

The LA Times wrote of the words that accompanied Sarkisian’s verdict to the man, noting that the judge blamed Lopez entirely and told the father that he had violated the position of trust he had in regards to being the girl’s father. The California judge also said that the behavior the man had displayed was violent conduct which makes him a “serious danger to society.” The verdict for the 1,503-year prison sentence was delivered to a silent and shackled Lopez, who had mastered the art of never acknowledging his daughter. At no point during the trial had Lopez even shown any remorse for raping his own child and in fact, actually blamed her for the situation he was now in. The daughter, now 23-years-old, told Sarkisian that she still feared her father.

One of the more disturbing details in the case is that the man’s daughter had initially been sexually abused by a friend of the family, and Nicole Galstan argued that instead of protecting the teen, Rene Lopez instead turned her into “a piece of property and use her to satisfy his sexual needs.”

The daughter, who has not been named, had been raped about two to three times every week from May 2009 to May 2013, when she was finally able to get up the courage to leave. At the hearing on Friday, Sarkisian read out the date of each attack, highlighting that Rene Lopez used to also rape his daughter on Christmas and other holidays. Once the daughter was out of the house, the father did not stop victimizing her however, and would often drive by her new home and leave love songs on her answering machine. Fresno police placed Rene Lopez under arrest in November 2013 after his daughter called the authorities and reported the abuse.

According to the Fresno Bee, Sarkisian let it be known that Lopez had turned down two plea deals, refusing to admit his guilt even as the evidence showed otherwise. Before his 1,503-year prison sentence and even before the preliminary court hearing, the Fresno prosecutors had been prepared to recommend that the man get up to 13 years in prison, but Lopez rejected the offer. Another offer was extended before the trial itself began, this time with a 22-year prison time if he admitted his guilt, but once more the offer was rejected.

Lopez did not testify at his trial but later wrote to the judge that his daughter had lied on the witness stand, only providing “hearsay” testimony and his trial had been unfair. The evidence had been overwhelming however, and in addition to the testimony the jurors also heard entries from the victim’s diary, in which she had recorded the abuse. The judge said that the father paid to get his daughter an abortion when he got her pregnant after the constant raping.

Sarkisian’s 1,503-year prison sentence for Lopez will also have him registering as a sex offender.

[Featured Image by ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock]

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