ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Two men convicted of kidnapping and raping an Orange County school girl were sent to prison Thursday afternoon. Juan Hernandez-Monzalvo and Richard Morales-Marin assaulted the 12-year-old in a vacant house last February.
Monzalvo continued to point the finger at his co-defendant in the case Thursday, but the judge told both men the evidence spoke for itself.
While Richard Morales-Marin seemed resigned to his fate, Juan Hernandez-Monzalvo's sobs were heard in the back of the courtroom. The pair was sentenced to consecutive life sentences for their parts in the February 2009 abduction and rape of a 12-year-old Orange County school girl, which happened in a vacant house.
Judge Walter Komanski's sentence didn't end there.
"At such point that you die, the recommendation to the Department of Corrections [is to] transport your body to Immigration and Naturalization Service back to your home country. Neither of you are worthy to be buried in this country," Judge Walter Komanski said.
Judge Komanski called the evidence in the case overwhelming and indefensible. However, Monzalvo still claimed to be innocent. He addressed the 12-year-old victim in a letter read by his interpreter.
"I'm begging God for you to tell the truth," Monzalvo's interpreter read.
The victim was not present, but prosecutors had their own reaction.
"Mr. Monzalvo has forgotten the jury rejected his version of events," prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick said.
It's a a version that means Monzalvo and his co-defendant will only return to their native Mexico in death.
In Monzalvo's letters to the court pleading for mercy, he detailed an August beating he took at the Orange County jail at the hands of seven inmates. He even said they threatened to rape him. Monzalvo was beaten, but the incident did nothing to change the facts of the case.
Previous Stories: October 28, 2009: Rape Victim, 12, Describes Horrific Attack February 12, 2009: Wife Turns In Suspects In Rape Of 11-Year-Old Girl February 9, 2009: Search For Suspects Who Raped Girl Continues February 6, 2009: Sheriff's Sketch Artist Talks About Working With Young Rape Victim February 6, 2009: Parents On Edge After Rape Of 11-Year-Old February 5, 2009: Sketch Released In Rape Of 11-Year-Old Girl
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