Registered sex offender convicted of child molestation
On Tuesday in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Tulare County District Attorney’s Crimes against Children prosecutors secured a guilty verdict for Sidney Russell, 64, for child molestation.
Russell was convicted of two felony counts of forcible lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. The court further found true Russell possessed prior strike offenses for violent sex crimes.
The crime was committed in July 2020 against a single minor female under the age of 14. In 1992, Russell was convicted of raping two separate adult victims, kidnapping, and other violent sex crimes. The crimes occurred in Visalia.
He was sentenced to 27 years in state prison, and was paroled in mid2005 after serving less than half of his sentence. Upon his release, Russell registered as a lifetime sex offender.
In 2019, Russell was convicted of misdemeanor sexual battery and served a local jail sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for June 14 in Superior Court where Russell faces life in prison. The case was prosecuted by Kelly Habroun of the TCDA Crimes against Children Division and was investigated by the Visalia Police Department.