Staff reports
CLEARLAKE ? On Friday Christopher Adam Sanders, 31, of Clearlake, was sentenced to 41 years in state prison for molesting his step-daughter.
Sanders was sentenced by the Honorable Stephen O. Hedstrom, who presided over the jury trial. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Edward Borg. Sanders was represented at the trial by Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa. He was represented at the sentencing hearing by Mitch Hauptman of Lakeport. The trial began on April 20 and ended with the jury verdicts on May 12.
Sanders was initially scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, but he retained Hauptman to explore the possibility of a motion for a new trial. Hauptman ultimately did not file such a motion.
Sanders was convicted of five separate crimes, all involving his stepdaughter, including lewd act with a child, lewd act with a child by duress, continuous sexual abuse of a child and statutory rape.
The abuse occurred over a period of three years and four months.
Hedstrom began his remarks by saying that the victim was very strong and courageous during the trial. Hedstrom found that the crimes were aggravated by the fact that she was particularly vulnerable because the sexual abuse began when she was 11 years old. He said that Sanders abused a position of trust because he stood in the position of being a parent during the time he molested the victim and that the crimes showed planning and sophistication because he was able to continue the molestation for more than three years without being caught. The duration and frequency with which the abuse occurred made this more serious than other crimes of the same type, according to Hedstrom. Hedstrom sentenced Sanders to the maximum term of eight years in state prison for Count II; an additional maximum term of eight years in state prison for Count III, to be served consecutively to Count II; and the maximum term of 16 years in state prison for Count IV, to be served consecutively to Counts II and III. Hedstrom sentenced Sanders to the maximum term of eight years for Count I; and a subordinate term of one year for Count V.
Counts II, III, and IV were sentenced under Penal Code section 667.6(d), which mandates full consecutive sentences for certain forcible sex crimes. Counts I and V were sentenced under Penal Code section 1170.1, because Counts I, II, III, and IV are violent felonies, Sanders will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for release. When he is released, Sanders will be required to register as a sex offender.
