Man gets 6 life sentences after convicted of raping multiple victims

Written by KTVU Staff

SAN MATEO, Calif. (FOX-35)- A 33-year-old man received six separate life sentences after being convicted of several rape and kidnapping charges involving five separate young victims, San Mateo County prosecutors said Tuesday.

A judge handed down the sentence of Kaylan Freeman, last Friday after he was convicted in August in the sexual assaults of the victims between the ages of 13 and 18, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said that Freeman, of El Granada, knew all the victims and assaulted them by force and threat while on outings, including one who was taken to San Francisco under the guise of getting dinner but was driven to a secluded area and raped.

Freeman was arrested at his home in January 2021 after an investigation by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office that started back in 2012, sheriff's officials said.

At Friday's sentencing hearing, two victim impact statements were read, and the judge told Freeman that he appeared to have no remorse for his conduct and was smirking in court, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Freeman was sentenced under California's "One Strike" law that mandates such sentences in sexual assault cases that have certain special circumstances, including there being more than one victim in the case.

Freeman's defense attorney Charles Smith III criticized the law, saying the circumstances of the case didn't warrant a life sentence.

"It's unfortunate that the Legislature has decided to take the sentencing decisions away from judges and is mandating these draconian sentences," Smith said.