A California man admitted last week to keeping a developmentally disabled close relative as his sex slave for 14 years.
Raul Ochoa, 52, agreed to a plea deal on Wednesday in which he will serve 22 years and his victim won’t have to testify, according to WPTV.
The girl, who was 13 when she was first abused by Ochoa, escaped in 2012 with the help of a relative. Police said the case was publicized only recently because Ochoa was a “very close” family member of the victim.
The Mercury News reports that Ochoa called the victim from jail after his arrest to try to scare her from cooperating with police. He also enlisted the help of his mother.
“(Ochoa’s mother) is trying to track me down and intimidate me into saying that I lied,” the victim wrote in a restraining order petition “(Ochoa) has convinced her that I lied about the abuse. Both (Ochoa) and (Ochoa’s mother) believe that if I do not cooperate, the criminal case will be dismissed.”
Ochoa is now under a restraining order that prevents him from contacting the victim or three of her relatives.
KTRK reports that the girl was subject to repeated sexual and physical abuse from 1999 until 2012.
“In that home she was basically, through the use of emotional and psychological pressure as well as sexual abuse, forced to participate in horrific acts for an extended period of time,” Deputy District Attorney Ryan Wagner said.
