A 75-year-old convicted child molester who fled during his trial in 1991 will finally face a judge next month and be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life, authorities said Wednesday.
Henry Arthur Quinones, who was arrested last Sept. 15 in Mexico, was extradited to Orange County on Friday, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Sentencing is set for May 8.
Quinones was on trial and out of custody on $50,000 bail when he failed to show for a court hearing on Aug. 29, 1991. An Orange County Superior Court judge issued a warrant for his arrest the following day.
Quinones was convicted in absentia of 26 counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14 and sentenced on Oct. 4, 1991, to 56 years in state prison.
From 1984 to 1989, Quinones lived with the victim in Anaheim and served as a “surrogate father,” according to the FBI. He molested and had sex with the child almost daily, authorities said.
Neighbors called police because the victim “was constantly displaying sexual behavior,” according to the FBI. The child also “suffered significant internal trauma,” the FBI said in an arrest warrant affidavit filed in federal court in May 2010.
When the FBI arrest warrant affidavit was filed in May 2010, authorities suspected Quinones was living in Guadalajara. The defendant had gone to the consulate “seeking benefits from the government,” according to the FBI.
— City News Service