Santa Maria man sentenced to life in prison following multiple sexual assaults
KSBY
and last updated 2021-02-01 22:01:16-05
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced Monday that James Fuentes, 44, was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.
This comes after Fuentes pled to one count of forced oral copulation, a violent felony offense, on two different victims and admitted two prior strike convictions.
These crimes come from two sexual assaults occurring in the spring of 2018 in the City of Santa Maria. Police say in one assault, Fuentes entered the home of his victim and forced her to perform sexual acts on him. In a later assault, Fuentes entered the business office of another victim and forced her to perform sexual acts on him after attempting to rape her.
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After a preliminary hearing in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in August 2019, a judge said enough evidence existed for Fuentes to face trial on 10 charges, including kidnapping for robbery or rape, two counts of forcible oral copulation, attempted forcible rape, and two counts of dissuading a witness, along with assorted robbery and burglary counts.
At the time of his arrest in 2018, Fuentes was on parole, police said.
Santa Maria Police Department detectives were able to quickly identify Fuentes as a suspect after the second sexual assault, and linked Fuentes to both crimes through DNA analysis and other evidence collected.