27-to-life for Modesto man who molested cousin for years

A Modesto man convicted of molesting his cousin starting when the boy was 10 has been sentenced to 27 years to life in state prison.

The victim reported in April 2017 that Johnathan Junior Indalecio, now 27, had molested him several years earlier on multiple occasions. The abuse continued until Indalecio moved out of the family home, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Questioned by Modesto police detectives, Indalecio made incriminating statements, including that he orally copulated the boy. He said, “I wasn’t in the right state of mind, so I don’t really have a recollection of what happened.”

Indalecio claimed he touched the child no more than 20 times.

On July 30, he entered a plea to one count of oral copulation with a child 10 years old or younger and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Before Indalecio was sentenced Wednesday, the victim’s mother told the court of the continuing pain she and her family will feel for the rest of their lives. Superior Court Judge Robert Westbrook then sentenced Indalecio, who if ever released from custody will remain on parole for the rest of his life.

Deputy District Attorney Erin Schwartz prosecuted the case.