Admitted pederast Luis Mejia Ortiz was in Maricopa County Superior Court
today, where he was sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he molested his
girlfriend's 9-year-old daughter on several occasions.
In all, Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of child molestation and three
counts of attempted child molestation. Initially, Ortiz was charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one
count of sexual abuse, one count of child molestation, and one count of
public sexual indecency.
In addition to the prison time, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens sentenced Ortiz to lifetime probation and ordered that he register as a sex offender for life.
If you ask Ortiz why he molested the girl, he claims it's because he suffered a head injury.
Ortiz was arrested in December after admitting to the girl's mother -- his
girlfriend -- and police that he had touched the girl's vagina on four
occasions, including a December 2 incident, in which he did so next to
the family's Christmas tree. He told police it "got him excited."
Ortiz claims he only touched the girl's vagina over the clothes, but the girl tells a different story.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, the girl told
her mother that between August and December of 2010, there were three
incidents in which Ortiz touched her breasts under the clothes and
inserted something into her vagina. In one case, she told police, he
tried to put his penis into her vagina but she pushed him away.
She says all the attacks happened at her parent's house while her mother was at work.
The 9-year-old victim also told police that she saw Ortiz get on top of
her 5-year-old sister while wearing nothing but his underwear. The girl says
she heard him mention something about "how cold it was."
The 5-year-old told police that Ortiz inserted "something" into her vagina, as well.
Earlier this month, the 9-year-old told her mother and grandmother what
had been going on with mommy's boyfriend. The mother called the cops
who arranged a confrontation call.
During the call, Ortiz admitted to touching the girls. When police went
to pick up Ortiz, his brother told officers Ortiz said he knew what he did was
wrong and he'd fled to Mexico. The brother told cops Ortiz wanted to
turn himself in.
Ortiz surrendered to police and admitted to
molesting the girls. He told cops he would touch the 5-year-old before
she went to school.
When he was arrested, Ortiz told police he "wasn't right" because of a previous head injury.