Man gets 10 years for sex assaults

Three women were attacked in separate daylight incidents

The Santa Rosa man who terrified women walking alone in a series of daylight sexual assaults last year was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Jason Frederick Hulac, 31, attacked a woman in February at Spring Lake Regional Park, attempting to rip off her pants while she fought him and screamed for help.

In April, Hulac grabbed another woman as she walked near Round Barn Circle on her lunch break. He fled after the two fell to the ground and she pounded him with her fists.

The last attack happened in June in the Coffey Park neighborhood when Hulac walked up to a woman and asked to hug her. He groped under her clothes and wrestled with her before being stopped by a passing motorist.

He was arrested after running to a nearby home.

Prosecutor Babara Nanney said the attacks left deep psychological scars on each woman, leaving them forever wary of strange men and walking alone.

“For the rest of their lives they will wonder who is behind them,” Nanney told Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite.

Hulac, who has been diagnosed with several mental health conditions but was deemed competent, remained silent during the sentencing hearing. He was chained to a wheelchair for security reasons. While in jail, he was charged with indecent exposure and misdemeanor assault and had refused to attend previous hearings.

On the eve of trial, Hulac reached a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded no contest to three counts of felony assault. He faced up to 18 years in prison if convicted by a jury.

None of his victims attended the sentencing hearing. Nanney told the judge they never wanted to see Hulac’s face again.

She read a letter from one woman who said her life was forever changed by the attack. She no longer walks on her lunch break and is terrified of being alone. A co-worker had to walk her to car each night for a year after the incident.

“I panic if I don’t have my pepper spray with me,” the woman said in the letter read by Nanney. “I lock my car doors over and over when I’m driving.”