Brentwood Serial Child Molester, Former Assembly Candidate Sentenced To 194 Years In Prison
MARTINEZ (CBS SF) -- A serial child molester was sentenced in a Martinez courtroom Tuesday to 194 years to life in prison for sexually abusing four boys in Brentwood in the 1990s.
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge John Kennedy sentenced 53-year-old Gordon Blake of Brentwood, who was convicted on 32 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with children in connection with the molestation, according to Deputy District Attorney Ryan Wagner.
Blake, a local political activist and business owner who ran twice in the early 2000s and was defeated for the Republican nomination to the California assembly, has denied the charges against him.
But the judge on Tuesday said he did not find the defendant's testimony credible.
During the trial, the jury heard from all four of Blake's victims, who are now in their 30s and ranged in age from 11 to 15 years old when the defendant molested them, according to Wagner.
Jurors also heard a recorded conversation between Blake and one of the victims, who wore a wire when he went to visit the defendant seeking an apology for the abuse.
"(Blake) sounded quite remorseful in the recording," Wagner said.
After a news story was published about the allegations against Blake, three more victims came forward.
He was initially arrested in March of 2013 and released on bail but was later re-arrested after the additional victims went to police.
Wagner said the effect the abuse has had on the victims is still apparent 20 years later.
"The defendant went to great lengths to manipulate these individuals and more or less gain their trust," he said.
The prosecutor said Blake would get to know his victims either by befriending their parents or out in the community, sometimes acting as a father figure.
"His manipulation and grooming in this case was pretty extensive...inviting them on camping trips, taking them on activities," Wagner said. "All of it was more or less a guise to spend more time with them."
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