Stanislaus County judge sentences repeat sex offender from Merced to 280 years
A 38-year-old Merced man was convicted for the second time of sexually molesting a young girl and sentenced to 280 years to life in prison.
A jury in May convicted Jeffrey Todd Eastman of three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, and one count of oral copulation of a child 10 years or younger, according to a press release from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
The release said that during four separate occasions in 2016, Eastman molested a 9-year-old girl when he was a guest at her home in Turlock. A few years later the girl told two of her friends about the molestation, triggering an investigation.
During an interview with Turlock detectives, “Eastman admitted to the oral copulation of a child 10 years or younger,” according to the release.
Eastman had previously been convicted of molesting a 14-year-old girl at a church they both attended. That victim, now an adult, also testified at the trial in May.
“Because Eastman had been previously convicted of two counts of lewd acts on a child, the minimum sentence for each of the current convictions was tripled,” according to the release.
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 3:09 PM.
