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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man is facing up to 35 years in prison after a jury convicted him on Thursday of five felony counts relating to the molestation of his stepdaughter.
The jury returned the conviction on Christopher Adam Sanders, 30, whose trial began on April 20 before Judge Stephen Hedstrom in the Lake County Superior Court's Clearlake Division, according to Deputy District Attorney Edward Borg.
Sanders' attorney, Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa, did not return a call seeking comment.
Borg said the jury deliberated only a short time before finding Sanders guilty on all five charges against him, which included a lewd act with a child, two counts of lewd act with a child by duress, continuous sexual abuse of a child and statutory rape.
“It really didn't take much more than an hour for us to return a verdict,” said Esther Oertel, one of the trial's jurors who also writes the weekly “Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News.
“The jurors were all agreed pretty quickly,” she said.
During trial testimony, Sanders was alleged to have begun sexually assaulting his stepdaughter late in the summer of 2005, when she was 11 years old, Borg said.
Sanders reportedly told the child that if she reported the abuse she would be the one to get into trouble, and that she would be taken away from her mother and never see her mother again, according to Borg.
Borg said the sexual assault was alleged to have continued on a repeated basis until December 2008, when the victim was 15 years old.
The abuse came to light on Jan. 4, 2009, after the young victim had a conversation with a friend who also had been sexually assaulted. Borg said the girl then reported the ongoing abuse to her mother.
The abuse subsequently was reported to the Clearlake Police Department. Borg said then-Det. Tim Hobbs – since promoted to sergeant – led the investigation, which resulted in Sanders' arrest shortly after midnight on Jan. 5, 2009.
During an interview after his arrest, Sanders – who Borg said had been fully advised of his rights – admitted to investigators he had multiple sexual contacts with his stepdaughter, but claimed she had initiated the encounters.
At trial, Roberta Bell, a registered nurse who performed a forensic examination of the victim, testified that she observed abnormal findings which were consistent with the history of sexual abuse the girl described, Borg said.
According to Borg, District Attorney’s Victim Witness Department Victim Advocate Crystal Martin provided support to the girl throughout the trial, and District Attorney Investigator Von McPherson also participated in the investigation.
Borg said the trial had been delayed by about a week due to an initial juror shortage, but added, “Generally speaking, it went pretty smoothly.”
He said Sanders' family showed up to support him throughout the trial, and there were tensions and hard feelings between them and the family of the victim.
Out of concern that those tensions might turn into hostility during the verdict reading Thursday, Borg said Judge Hedstrom had requested extra deputies be on standby.
However, “Nothing much really happened,” said Borg, noting the bailiff was able to keep order.
Oertel said the six-man, six-woman jury – which ranged in age from a young woman in her 20s to a woman in her 60s – took their charge “very, very seriously,” and she was impressed by how hard they worked to reach a verdict.
“While it was a difficult trial to sit through because of the subject matter, we feel justice was done,” Oertel said.
Following the verdict, Sanders was taken into custody and booked into the Lake County Jail, Borg said.
Because of the nature of the charges, Borg said Sanders won't be eligible for probation.
Borg said Sanders will face between 15 and 35 years in prison when he appears before Hedstrom for sentencing at 1:15 p.m. July 1. Lake County Probation will prepare a report with sentencing recommendations.
Sanders will have to serve 85 percent of whatever sentence Hedstrom gives him because four of the five counts he's been convicted of are violent felonies, said Borg.
Borg said the District Attorney’s Office commended the girl for her courage in coming forward and testifying in open court regarding Sanders' abuses.
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