Ruben Maciel, 42, of Salinas, has been sentenced to 35 years in state prison by Judge Carrie Panetta on 18 counts of lewd conduct with a child under 14 years of age, including an enhancement for causing great bodily injury.
Each count is a serious and violent felony under the California Three Strikes Law. Maciel will have to register for the remainder of his lifetime as a sex offender once released.
According to prosecutors: On April 23, 2014, Child Protective Services informed the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office about a pregnant 11-year-old being scheduled for an abortion by her biological mother, Claudia Ochoa.
The child initially told authorities that she had sex with an unidentified 12-year-old boy who had recently moved from the area. However, she revealed to her step-mother a few days later that she had lied and her step-father fathered the fetus. DNA tests confirmed Ruben Maciel was the father of the fetus.
The child disclosed to authorities that her mother, Claudia Ochoa, had suggested she have sex with Maciel, prosecutors said. Maciel would later tell the child she would get cancer if she didn’t have sex with him.
The child described multiple occasions where Maciel would sexually assault her including directing Ochoa to perform lewd acts on the child.
Maciel also sexually assaulted the child without Ochoa’s involvement on multiple occasions over a three-month period, prosecutors said.