The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that 83-year-old John Carillo Chavez of Lompoc has been convicted of five counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14.
A Ventura County jury convicted Chavez on June 9, and found some special allegations and aggravating factors to be true — that there was substantial sexual contact with a victim under the age of 14, that Chavez took advantage of a position of trust or confidence, and that the victim was particularly vulnerable.
The District Attorney’s Office said that Chavez was already a convicted child molester from 1995, and that he sexually abused this victim at least five times at two locations in Ventura County between October 2001 and October 2002.
The offenses were reported years later by the victim, who is now an adult, but California Penal Code 801.1(a)(1) allows for the prosecution of specified sexual assault crimes prior to the victim’s 40th birthday.
“The prosecution team is grateful for the extended statute of limitations for child molestations that allowed this prosecution,” said Deputy District Attorney Emily Reber. “But for the tremendous bravery of the victim, justice could not have been done.”
Chavez is now scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. July 12 at the Ventura County Superior Court.