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Calif. judge faces backlash after reducing man's sentence in rape of toddler

Published  April 8, 2015 7:20pm PDT
Associated Press



SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Orange County's district attorney says he'll appeal a judge's decision to give a lighter sentence to a man who sodomized a 3-year-old girl.

Tony Rackauckas said Wednesday he disagrees with last week's decision to send Kevin Rojano-Nieto to state prison for 10 years.



Rojano-Nieto assaulted a relative in his Santa Ana garage last June. The crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life.

But instead, Superior Court Judge Michael Marc Kelly ruled that the sentence would be unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. He said Rojano-Nieto became inexplicably sexually aroused, but examinations found he wasn't a true pedophile, sex predator or danger to society.

The judge said the crime was despicable, but Rojano-Nieto didn't stalk the victim and didn't intend to harm her.

He also said the girl seems to have recovered.