Olivehurst man sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse

An Olivehurst man was sentenced to at least 241 years in prison after being found guilty of 16 counts of child sex abuse on Friday in Yuba County Superior Court.

Samuel I. Mcconnell, 44, was found guilty on Sept. 19 of 15 counts of unlawful contact with a minor dating back as far as 2008 and one count of continuous sexual abuse.

Mcconnell sat motionless and stared straight ahead as Judge Julia L. Scrogin delivered the sentence and reason for her decisions. She cited Mcconnell’s past felony convictions as being taken into consideration and made a point to mention that Mcconnell took advantage of a position of trust with the victim who was a family member.

“I can’t think of another case as horrific as this,” Scrogin said.

According to court documents, the 16-yearold victim reported having been sexually assaulted from the time she was six till the age of 11 or 12. The victim said the abuse took place at the family residence in Yuba County.

The abuse described in court documents included oral copulation and sexual penetration and happened at least twice a week, according to the victim. Mcconnell admitted to the mother of the victim around the same time the victim came forward and said he was sorry. He then attempted suicide by allegedly taking “a bunch of medication” and getting into an intentional crash with his car.

He was treated at a Roseville hospital, where he was contacted by authorities. He was released from the hospital and left the state without detectives being notified.

A multi-agency manhunt resulted in Mcconnell being apprehended in Kansas and extradited back to Yuba County Jail.

On Friday, Scrogin sentenced Mcconnell to 16 years in prison for the one count of continuous sexual abuse and 225 years to life for the 15 counts of unlawful contact with a minor.

Yuba County Chief Deputy District Attorney Shiloh Sorbello said Mcconnell will serve the 16 years first and then start his indeterminate sentence of 225 years. He won’t be able to apply for parole until he is over 60 years old and been in prison for 25 consecutive years, under the elderly parole program in California.

Sorbello said that applying for parole does not mean it will be granted and that if he was to be granted parole he would be on parole for the rest of his life.

At the conclusion of the proceeding, there was a smattering of applause from those in attendance.