[1]Paulo Botello-Garcia, center, consults with his attorney during sentencing in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A former Centralia man whose convictions and 30-year sentence were rejected by the court of appeals entered into a plea deal instead of going through a second trial and was given a new sentence yesterday of nine years in a child sex abuse case.
Paulo Botello-Garcia made an Alford plea to four counts of second-degree child molestation.
When he appeared before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court, his attorney asked for the low end of the standard sentencing range that applied, arguing his client’s previous lawyer failed to present information about the Iraq war veteran’s post traumatic stress disorder.
Seattle-based attorney Peter Connick told the judge Botello-Garcia had led a crime free life prior to incarceration and stayed out of trouble while locked up.
Botello-Garcia was arrested in 2012 after a 15-year-old girl’s mother found writings in the teen’s journal about incidents that had occurred in the past and he was convicted in a 2014 jury trial. He and the victim were members of the same household.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm asked the judge to impose the high end of the sentencing range, specifically 116 months in prison and then four months of supervision.
Bohm noted Botello-Garcia had a third-degree theft from 2012.
Botello-Garcia spoke through a Spanish interpreter and declined to make a statement to the court on his own behalf.
Judge Andrew Toynbee said the disability played only a small role in his decision, and behaving well while in prison played no role.
Toynbee ordered a sentence of nine years with 12 months of supervision after release. Four months would be too short, according to Toynbee. The defendant will get credit for time already served.
The convictions that were tossed out by the Washington State Court of Appeals were two counts of second-degree child molestation and two counts of second-degree rape of a child. The panel found the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence and remanded the case for a new trial for the 41-year-old Centralia man.
Connick said he and his client had been prepared to go to trial again, but entered into the plea agreement the day before it was to begin.
Judge Toynbee signed a 10-year sexual assault protection order prohibiting Botello-Garcia from contacting the victim.
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For background, read “Centralia man un-convicted of child sex crimes back in court” from Wednesday June 29, 2016, here [2]