California man sentenced to 480 years for molesting multiple children

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A 68-year-old man was sentenced to nearly five centuries behind bars for sexually abusing children he knew through a familial relationship.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced that on April 7, Marcelino Arca received a sentence of 480 years to life in state prison. A jury previously convicted him in March on six felony counts of lewd acts upon a child and found true a special allegation that there were multiple victims. Arca had a previous conviction for child molestation from 1988.

According to the district attorney’s office, Arca molested two victims under 14 between 2005 and 2014 in multiple locations. The victims told their family members about the abuse years later. Prosecutors noted that Arca “gained access to the victims through a familial relationship.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Ben Moreno said, “Decades ago, this defendant went to prison for sexually abusing a child. When given a second chance, he chose not to change — instead, he went on to sexually abuse two more children, this time within his own family.”

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