GEORGETOWN -- An illegal immigrant from Guatemala will serve 11 years in prison for sexually abusing his girlfriend and two young girls.
After serving time, Pascual Tercero, 51, will be turned over to federal authorities for likely deportation, Sussex County Superior Court Judge E. Scott Bradley said in his sentencing Friday.
Clad in a white jumpsuit and wearing handcuffs, Tercero was silent for most of his appearance in court.
He echoed his attorney's plea for a quick transfer to federal custody and maintained his innocence.
""It's a lot of time to spend in jail when you're innocent,"" he said through a translator.
Prosecutors said Tercero had threatened to kill his girlfriend if she called the police, and argued that he should not be returned to Guatemala immediately because he might go after her family there.
He also made references to how he would break her ribs if they still lived in Guatemala, saying, ""That's the way to tame women,"" prosecutor Stacey Cohee said.
""This family for so many years lived under the control, the fear and the violence of Mr. Tercero,"" Cohee said. ""He was a predator here ... he'll be a predator there.""
The children were 13 and 6 when the abuse occurred, Cohee said.
Tercero was found guilty at trial of unlawful sexual conduct and endangering the welfare of a child, and pleaded no contest to charges of rape and unlawful sexual conduct, defense attorney Christopher Hutchison said.
Tercero, who has approximately a third-grade education, had been in the United States illegally for the past 16 years, working at Mountaire and Perdue poultry processing plants, Hutchison said.
His only criminal background in the U.S. was a 1995 misdemeanor conviction for forgery, Hutchison said.
Bradley sentenced Tercero to 22 years in prison, with 10 years suspended and credit for the 383 days he's spent behind bars already. He will have to register as a sex offender and undergo HIV and DNA testing.
If he is not deported and goes on probation after serving the 11 years in prison, he will have to wear a GPS monitoring device, Bradley said.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090328/NEWS01/903280346
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