Turlock man sent to prison for molesting 5-year-old girl

A judge has sentenced a 30-year-old Turlock man to 10 years in prison for sexually molesting a 5-year-old girl he was living with last year.

Tobias Salgado Sandoval on Feb. 1 pleaded no contest to committing a forcible lewd act on a child younger than 14, according to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. On Tuesday, Sandoval was serving his sentence at San Quentin State Prison.

Sandoval must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence before he can be eligible for parole, because his crime is considered both a serious and violent felony. The conviction also is considered a strike under the state’s “Three Strikes Law,” which could be used to increase a prison sentence if Sandoval is convicted of another felony.

Upon his release from prison, Sandoval must serve 20 years on parole, and he must register as a sex offender with a local police agency for the rest of his life. Deputy District Attorney Blythe Harris prosecuted the case against Sandoval.

The sexual abuse occurred May 9, 2016. Prosecutors said Sandoval was living in a home where the girl resided, and he sexually molested her. She told her mother the following day, and the abuse was reported to police.

When a Turlock police detective questioned Sandoval, the defendant admitted he molested the girl, according to prosecutors.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Marie Silveira sentenced Sandoval on March 15, a sentence that was part of a plea agreement reached by the attorneys.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Turlock man sent to prison for molesting 5-year-old girl."