Mid-City Molester Gets 83 Years To Life In Prison
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A man known as the Mid-City Molester was sentenced Thursday to 83 years to life in prison for kidnapping and molestation.
Daniel Merino, 42, of Hollywood, was convicted March 25 of four counts of kidnapping for child molestation, three counts of a lewd act upon a child and one count of an attempted lewd act on a child in connection with the fourth girl. He was acquitted of possessing child pornography.
Merino attacked the girls, ages 8 to 10, between February 2008 and November 2009 as they walked alone to school. Merino would ask for their help in walking his daughter to school, Deputy District Attorney Bradley McCartt said, then take them to nearby apartment buildings and molest them.
Each of the girls ran to the school afterward and reported what happened.
Los Angeles police identified Merino's car from a surveillance video and arrested him in January 2010.
All four of the girls identified Merino in photographs and in court, and cried during their testimony, the prosecutor said.
He was sentenced by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen.
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