Turlock man sentenced for battering girlfriend, holding her captive in dog crate

A Stanislaus County judge on Thursday heard a woman’s account of how she was repeatedly abused and held in captivity by her boyfriend. In a letter to the court, she wrote about the sinking feeling of despair that kept her from seeking help.

“It caused me to feel alone and dead inside,” she wrote about the abuse. The Modesto Bee is not identifying the woman because she is a victim of domestic violence.

Superior Court Judge Scott Steffen sentenced her ex-boyfriend, Frank Deodulo Guerra, to 10 years in prison for battering the victim and caging the young woman in a large dog crate for hours on end at his Turlock home.

It was the maximum sentence for charges of kidnapping, battery with serious injury and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant. Guerra pleaded no contest to these charges April 6.

Guerra, 22, will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole. The judge granted a restraining order indicating that the defendant stay away from the victim for 10 years. He can’t own or a possess a gun in that time, and he can’t try to communicate with the victim.

Ryan Roth, Guerra’s attorney, told the judge that his client was the product of a rough upbringing, an environment that included drug abuse and violence. He said Guerra had no other law violations, and the judge should consider those mitigating circumstances.

Roth argued that his client admitted to inflicting the abuse and “expressed regret and sorrow” in a phone call between Guerra and the victim, which was recorded by police. The defense attorney said those crimes were not reflective of his client’s character.

Deputy District Attorney Beth O’Hara DeJong argued that Guerra has not shown any remorse, even when he was questioned by probation officials after he was convicted in April. She said Guerra inflicted repeated abuse on the victim over a long period of time; it wasn’t one isolated incident.

The prosecutor told the judge, “Locking a woman in a dog crate; how more inhumane can you act?”

Steffen said Guerra’s statements in the police-recorded phone call were not those of contrition. He said he found aggravating circumstances in Guerra’s crimes that included a high degree of callousness.

The defendant has been held at the county jail since Feb. 25. He was arrested after his former girlfriend went to the Turlock Police Department to report the crimes.

Two strikes

Steffen has told Guerra that two of his charges are considered strikes under the state’s “three-strikes” law. If Guerra is convicted of another felony, he could be eligible for a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Upon Guerra’s release from prison, he will have to serve three years of parole.

The abuse began in August. The woman reportedly escaped Jan. 4 but didn’t report the crimes until late February because the defendant asserted power and control over her, DeJong has said. Guerra reportedly forced the woman into a dog crate that measured 30 by 48 inches with an inside height of 32 inches, because he didn’t trust her to stay at the home while he was gone.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, the prosecutor read in court the letter written by the victim. The court gives victims a chance to speak before the convicted person is sentenced.

The victim said Guerra controlled and manipulated her life, keeping her isolated from everyone including her family. She said Guerra allowed her to attend her mother’s funeral services, but didn’t let her spend time with her siblings to grieve the loss of their mother.

She told the court the abuse became worse when she lost her job and Guerra got a job at a Turlock restaurant. She said Guerra locked her in the dog crate three to five times a week, four to five hours a day, while he went to work. The victim said she was forced to urinate into a dog bowl, and that Guerra smeared dog feces on her.

The woman developed appendicitis as she was locked inside the dog crate, she said, possibly from being forced to remain in the fetal position in the crate for so long and hold her bowel movements.

When they slept, Guerra would force his girlfriend to hold him so he could he know she hadn’t left the bed, according to the victim. She said Guerra threatened to knock her out if she turned her back to him as they slept. She said the abuse also included violence.

As soon as she said something he didn’t like, Guerra would slap her face and push her to the ground, the victim told the court. She said Guerra would reach for any nearby object to gag her and silence her screams. She said Guerra would also bite her on her back, leaving permanent scars.

To this day, she doesn’t wear clothing that might reveal the scars and cause others to ask questions about the injuries. “I’m forever scarred and stuck with these nightmares,” the victim wrote.

She told the court that she is being treated with counseling to cope with the emotional trauma.

The sadness and anger remains, and she struggles with leaving her home to socialize with others. The woman wrote “If I am strong enough to leave him, I am strong enough to get through this in time.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Turlock man sentenced for battering girlfriend, holding her captive in dog crate."