A 62-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting two girls — one starting when she was 5 until she was 14 — in Laguna Niguel and Dana Point.
Aurelio Garcia-Contreras pleaded guilty Monday to single counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child and rape and two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14, all felonies.
Both girls knew him through the defendant’s granddaughter, according to testimony in a preliminary hearing two years ago.
One victim said the granddaughter was her best friend and that she would go over to her apartment in Laguna Niguel, where the defendant would molest her, starting when she was 5 years old, according to the testimony.
She told Orange County sheriff’s deputies she was sexually assaulted more than 20 times over the years.
The defendant moved in with the girl and her family in Dana Point in 2010 when she was 10 or 11 years old, according to the testimony, and the defendant would buy her gifts like cell phones.
Later, they moved to Laguna Niguel when she was 13 and he would continue sexually assaulting her until he moved out when she was 15, according to the testimony.
Another girl told authorities he began molesting her at the defendant’s granddaughter’s home in Laguna Niguel when the victim was in sixth grade, according to the testimony.
Garcia-Contreras was given credit for 1,208 days in custody.
