3rd Strike Offender Gets 25 Years To Life For Sexual Battery, Fondling Woman
SANTA ANA (CBS) — A third-strike felon was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday for his latest offense, the sexual battery of an Irvine woman.
Victor George Gillespie, 21, of Irvine was accused of breaking into the unidentified woman's bedroom and putting his hand down her pants, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
He was found guilty in August.
After taking her dog out for a walk on March 23, 2010, a 24-year-old woman returned to the three-bedroom apartment she shared with two cousins and one of their girlfriends.
At trial, the woman testified that she was logged into Facebook, lying on her bed on her stomach, when she noticed her dog was gone, according to Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker. Moments later, she felt someone jump on her back, the prosecutor told jurors.
She thought it might be her dog or one of her roommates, but after turning realized a complete stranger was on top of her. After he put his hands down the woman's pants, and she resisted, and they struggled, Gillespie fled. Irvine police arrested Gillespie nearby a short time later.
Gillespie had two prior strike convictions for robberies in 2007, according to the District Attorney's Office.
In sentencing Gillespie Friday, Superior Court Judge Steven Bromberg turned down the defendant's request to throw out the prior convictions. Bromberg cited Gillespie's history of violence, thefts and inappropriate sexual acts towards women (dating back to when Gillespie was 12) as reasons for turning down the request.
"The problem here is obvious," Bromberg said. "The defendant's conduct is so exceptionally dangerous that for him to be permitted to live within any civilized society would be a tragic error and a complete and total disregard for the meaning and intent of the three strikes law."
