Child molester sentenced to 32 years

OROVILLE » A Butte County Judge on Thursday sentenced a Chico man to 32 years in state prison for child molestation.

According to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, Kiante Turner had molested his two young stepdaughters for nine years.

In addition to the prison term, Superior Court Judge Kristen Lucena ordered him to pay $450,000 for mental anguish to each of his victims for the years he abused them.

According to Ramsey, Turner began molesting the two girls when they were approximately 6 and 9 years old.

The abuse continued for nine years until one of the girls finally told her mother about the abuse.

The mother immediately contacted the Butte County Sheriff’s Office which opened an investigation. Turner was arrested and reportedly confessed.

Turner’s attorney requested the judge give his client probation and not order any restitution to the victims.

However, Butte County’s Supervising Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Bennett objected to that and pointed out the anguish the victims went through.

One of the victims spoke to the anger in the court, while the other had her victim statement read by a victim’s advocate, according to the DA’s Office.

According to the DA, the judge noted the victims’ vulnerability due to their age and relationship to Turner and the ongoing nature of the crime.

Lucena, in imposing the sentence and the restitution, also pointed to the lasting impact Turner’s sex abuse will have on the victims’ lives.

Turner will be required to register as a sex offender for life; he will also face a mental evaluation at the end of his prison sentence to determine if he should be held in a state hospital as a sexually violent predator.