Salinas man sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for child molestation
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The Monterey County District Attorney's Office said 64-year-old Juan Salvador-Rivera of Salinas will serve a total of 32 years in prison for molesting two children.
The first child, a girl under the age of 14, reported that Salvador-Rivera, a relative of hers, molested her more than once between June 2013 and June 2016 when they were alone while he was watching her.
In May 2017, he pleaded guilty to two child molestation charges involving the first victim. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
During the investigation, law enforcement spoke to other children who had been around Salvador-Rivera to see if he had molested anyone else. One of the girls, who was also under the age of 14, said he did not assault her, but a few days after Salvador-Rivera's sentencing, she told her mother that he assaulted her a couple times five years earlier, around the same time as the other girl.
The victim said she did not say she was molested when law enforcement interviewed her because she was scared and not ready to talk about it. The DA's Office said that for several reasons, including an imbalance of power between the perpetrator and victim, it is not uncommon for child molestation victims to not report assaults or deny they happened.
In October 2020, the DA's Office said Salvador-Rivera pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible child molestation. He has been sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison. In addition to prison time, he will be required to register as a sex offender for life and will not be allowed to contact the second victim for ten years.
