Teen Gets 33-To-Life For Murder Of Boy

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A Central California teenager who molested and drowned his 4-year-old neighbor then hid the body in a dryer will spend 33 years to life in prison.

A Fresno County judge sentenced 15-year-old Raul Castro on Friday.

Castro was 14 in October 2009 when he drowned Alex Mercado in the bathtub of his Mendota home after the preschooler said he would tell his mother about the sexual assault. The teen confessed in taped interviews with police.

Castro was tried as an adult and asked that a judge decide the case instead of a jury.

A psychiatrist testified at trial that he suffers from several mental illnesses and was abused as a toddler.

In April, Judge Jonathan Conklin found Castro guilty of first-degree murder as well as sodomy and lewd acts on a child.

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