An 81-year-old man who did missionary work at American Indian reservations through his church has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for molesting two girls, beginning when they were 8 and 10 years old, over several years in Tustin.
Douglas Dale Whinery of Tustin pleaded guilty as he could have faced up to 100 years to life in prison if convicted at trial, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Defense attorney Ed Welbourn negotiated the plea deal with prosecutors.
Whinery met the girls, who are related, in a Tustin park in November 2011, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky.
Whinery became friendly with the girls’ family, giving them money for housing, taking the children to school and going to church with them, the prosecutor said.
Whinery molested them mostly in his home between November 2011 through Easter Sunday this year, Bokosky said.
A day after Easter, one of the girls told family members about the abuse, Bokosky said.
The sentence was handed down Thursday.
–City News Service