A 43-year-old tattoo artist was sentenced Friday to more than 25 years in prison for sexual assaults of his clients in Anaheim.
Manuel Jesus Pech was convicted Aug. 30 of sexual battery, sexual penetration of a child older than 14 by foreign object and by force, sexual battery by fraud, attempted sexual battery by fraudulent representation and assault with the intent to commit a sex offense, all felonies. He was sentenced to 25 years and six months in prison.
When the defendant was arrested two years ago. Police said he was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old girl while giving her a tattoo illegally because of her age on Feb. 23, 2019. He was also accused of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old woman while giving her a tattoo on March 1, 2017, police said.
In a letter to one of the judges who oversaw his case, Pech said he was a recovering addict who was three years sober and denied the allegations.
“My charges are due to the fact that I tattooed the accuser on body placements they requested by contacting my service, made appointments and consented to get the tattoo on their request,” he wrote. “They claim I sexually assaulted them. I am being falsely accused.”
Pech said he tattooed one client’s breast and another one on the buttocks with the phrase “bon appetite.”