Lansdale man draws decades in prison
Carlos Lopez Vanegas sentenced for rape of, indecent contact with preteen girls
NORRISTOWN >> A judge sent a Lansdale man to prison for decades on charges he sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl and had indecent contact with a second girl, a 5-year-old, while they were in his company at various times in the borough.
Carlos Lopez-Vanegas, 29, of the 100 block of East Mount Vernon Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 48-to-96years in a state correctional facility after a jury convicted him of charges of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and aggravated indecent assault of a child in connection with his contact with the 11-year-old girl.
The jury, after a four-day trial in July, also convicted Lopez-Vanegas of a charge of indecent assault in connection with his conduct with the 5-year-old girl. The jury couldn’t reach a verdict on charges of aggravated indecent assault as it pertained to his contact with the 5-year-old.
Additionally, the jury convicted Lopez-Vanegas of charges of endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors as those charges pertained to both girls.
Judge William R. Carpenter also ordered Lopez-Vanegas to have no contact with children as a condition of the sentence.
The sentence means LopezVanegas, a native of Nicaragua who was legally residing in the U.S. at the time of the assaults, won’t be eligible for parole until he is in his 70s.
Assistant District Attorney Kristen J. Kemp sought a lengthy
“The reality of it is that these children’s lives will be forever affected by what this man did to them.” — Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kristen J. Kemp
prison term against Lopez-Vanegas, arguing he “preyed upon multiple victims on multiple occasions in multiple ways.” Kemp and co-prosecutor Brianna Ringwood successfully sought consecutive prison terms against Lopez-Vanegas, arguing each of the crimes of which he was convicted represented “a separate and distinct act.”
“The reality of it is that these children’s lives will be forever affected by what this man did to them. At some point in time they will be adults and he has taken away from them the ability to experience any sort of intimacy without having the shadow over them of the abuses that they suffered at his hands,” Kemp said on Monday, characterizing the girls as courageous for testifying during the trial.
“These victims, although they are survivors and they were so strong in their testimony, will suffer for the rest of their lives as a result of what he did to them,” Kemp added.
Lopez-Vanegas knew the girls’ families and the inappropriate conduct occurred while the girls were in his company at various times in Lansdale between 2015 and 2017. Kemp and Ringwood argued Lopez-Vanegas
“At some point in time they will be adults and he has taken away from them the ability to experience any sort of intimacy without having the shadow over them of the abuses that they suffered at his hands.” — Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kristen J. Kemp
stole the victims’ innocence and used a position of authority and trust to abuse them and violated his duty of care.
Lopez-Vanegas, who was represented by defense lawyer Christopher Koschier, did not testify during the trial.
The two girls testified during the trial and the jury also viewed recorded interviews the girls gave to child social workers during the investigation. In addition to the sexual contact, Lopez-Vanegas also showed the girls pornography at different times while they were in his company, according to testimony.
One week after the jury convicted Lopez-Vanegas of the charges, his two brothers admitted they too sexually assaulted the same 11-year-old girl.
Julio Vincente LopezVanegas, 32, of the 100 block of East Mount Vernon Street, was sentenced to 5-to-10-years in a state correctional facility, to be followed by 20 years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of rape of a child in connection with his contact with the underage girl.
Wilson Lopez-Vanegas, 33, also of the East Mount Vernon Street address, was sentenced to 2-to-4-years in state prison, to be followed by 10 years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of statutory sexual assault in connection with his contact with the 11-year-old girl.
Those sentences were imposed by Judge Carpenter as part of plea agreements.
Testimony and court documents did not reveal if the individual brothers knew that the others were having sexual contact with the same girl. The brothers did not face conspiracy charges in connection with the incidents.
The cases against the three men were investigated by Lansdale Detective Nicholas Oropeza and Police Officer Joel Greco.