A 45-year-old man has been sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for molesting three girls he was related to in Norwalk and Santa Ana, according to court records obtained Monday.
Maykel Javier Sanchez Castilla was convicted in December of eight felony sexual assault counts. He was given credit for 2,359 days behind bars, nearly 6 1/2 years, when he was sentenced Friday.
One of the girls was assaulted once but the others were attacked multiple times, prosecutors said in a sentencing brief.
One girl said the abuse started when she was about 7 or 8 years old and the last time she was assaulted she was 10, prosecutors said.
Another victim said she was first attacked when she was about 4 or 5 years old and the last time she was assaulted she was 9, prosecutors said.
For one of the victims the abuse “involved multiple individual acts of molestation over the course of several years,” prosecutors said.
“The defendant committed so many more acts than were actually charged against” two of the girls, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors sought 120 years to life in prison.
“The crimes in this case were particularly heinous against three extremely vulnerable victims,” prosecutors said.
Each of the victims “came from struggling homes, looking for safety and security,” prosecutors said.
“Their entire family worked hard to help take care of each other, and even help care for the defendant at one point or another,” prosecutors said. “The defendant knew this and applied physical, psychological and emotional force to repeatedly sexually assault (the victims).”