Update:Jesse R.Gonzales Sentenced to At Least 25 Years For 1st Degree Rape And 1st Degree Burglary With Sexual Motivation, Victim A 12-Year Old Girl

December 9, 2011



SHORELINE, Wash. – A Shoreline man has been charged with rape, burglary and assault in Sunday’s rape of a 12-year-old girl.

Bail was increased to $1 million for 37-year-old Jesse R. Gonzales. He was charged Friday with first degree rape and first degree burglary with sexual motivation.

Because the alleged sexual assault involves a victim under the age of 15, King County prosecutors say a conviction would trigger a mandatory 25-year prison sentence. Gonzales could also end up spending the rest of his life in prison. A parole board has the authority to keep an inmate in prison for life for conviction on certain sex offenses.

"A person who would break into a home and rape a 12-year-old child has forfeited his right to live in a free society," said King County Proseutor Dan Satterberg. "There can be no mitigating circumstances, there should only be a prison cell and a life sentence."

Gonzales was arrested during a traffic stop around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday in Shoreline.

Shoreline Police said they identified Gonzales through forensic evidence found at the crime scene, including a palm print.

Probable cause documents say when Gonzales was arrested, he admitted to police that he had sexually assaulted the victim and said he had 12 beers and took a synthetic drug that caused him to hallucinate.

Gonzales has an extensive criminal history, but no apparent arrests or convictions for sexual assaults.

King County Sheriff's detectives said the girl was asleep inside her family's apartment in the 20000 block of Whitman Avenue North in Shoreline, when a stranger broke in around 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

Her mother hadn't yet arrived home from work. It wasn't until her mother got home that the intruder was scared off.

Police said the victim did not know the suspect and it's not clear how he knew the girl was home alone at the time of the attack.

Anyone with information is asked to call the King County Sheriff's Office Special Assault Unit at 206-296-7557.

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"A person who would break into a home and rape a 12-year-old child has forfeited his right to live in a free society," said King County Proseutor Dan Satterberg. "There can be no mitigating circumstances, there should only be a prison cell and a life sentence."

Suspect in Shoreline rape could face life in prison

A man who is accused of breaking into a neighbor's home and raping a 12-year-old girl could face an exceptionally long prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to prosecutors.

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter

Jesse R. Gonzales, 38, was identified through a handprint database.

A man who is accused of breaking into a neighbor's home and raping a 12-year-old girl could face an exceptionally long prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to prosecutors.

Jesse R. Gonzales, 38, of Shoreline, was charged Friday with first-degree rape and first-degree burglary with a sexual motivation.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg said his office will use a sentencing-enhancement law to seek a prison sentence of 27 years to life.

"A person who breaks into a home and rapes a small child has forfeited his right to live in a free society," he said. "There can be no mitigating circumstances, no excuses. There should only be a prison cell and a life sentence."

Gonzales, 38, is accused of entering a neighbor's home early Sunday morning and raping the 12-year-old.

Court documents say the girl and her siblings were at home alone when Gonzales entered and raped the victim multiple times.

Satterberg said investigators do not yet know whether Gonzales, also known as Jesse R. Guerten, had been watching the home. Court documents say he entered the home's unlocked front door at a time when there were no adults in the residence.

Typically, court documents say, the girl's uncle baby-sat until her mother returned from work, but on the night of the assault, he left early and the mother arrived late.

Prosecutors and the public are often frustrated by sentencing guidelines that seem too lenient, Satterberg said during a news conference on Friday.

But in this case, he said, state law provides "an adequate hammer."

Satterberg said that because Gonzales is charged with first-degree rape and the victim is younger than 15, prosecutors have filed a special allegation that will allow them to seek an exceptionally long sentence.

Gonzales was arrested on Wednesday after a palm print lifted from a glass-surfaced vanity in the girl's room was compared with 350,000 handprints in the system and matched to one provided by Gonzales after a 2006 arrest for driving with a suspended license.

The King County Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System was updated in March to match palm prints as well as fingerprints, according to Regional AFIS manager Carol Gillespie.

Without the update, she and Satterberg said, it's unclear whether Gonzales would have been captured. Satterberg said it's certain, though, that the case would not have been resolved so quickly.

Gonzales, who has a lengthy criminal history that includes five felony convictions, is being held in King County Jail, with bail set at $1 million. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 22.

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Prosecutors shoot for 27-year prison term in Shoreline rape
By LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 03:10 p.m., Friday, December 9, 2011

Shoreline man accused of breaking into a neighbor’s home and raping a 12-year-old girl was charged Friday with rape and burglary as prosecutors announced they plan to seek an exceptionally severe sentence in the case.

Arrested Wednesday, Jesse R. Gonzales is accused of breaking into the Whitman Avenue North apartment through an unlocked front door and raping the girl. King County Sheriff’s Office investigators claim Gonzales – a 37-year-old who also goes by Jesse R. Guerten – admitted to the attack and claimed he was drunk at the time.

In addition to announcing the first-degree rape and first-degree burglary charges, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a statement that his office with seek a 27-year sentence against Gonzales. A rarely used state law allows for a 25-year mandatory sentence in cases where a perpetrator breaks into a home and rapes a child younger than 15.

If convicted as charged, Gonzales could be detained indefinitely if a state parole board finds he continues to pose a danger to the public.

“A person who would break into a home and rape a 12-year-old child has forfeited his right to live in a free society,” Satterberg said in a statement.

“There can be no mitigating circumstances,” the prosecutor continued. “There should only be a prison cell and a life sentence.”

Describing the alleged attack in court documents, a King County Sheriff’s Office detective said the girl awoke to find a man stripping in her room.

“Who the hell are you?” the girl demanded before her assailant gagged her with an apron, according to court documents.

Gonzales is alleged to have then told the girl he was going to kill her if she didn’t shut up. According to charging documents, Gonzales held her down and sexually assaulted her repeatedly.

The girl’s mother returned home at 3:40 a.m. to find the front door locked from the inside. She rang the doorbell, and the girl was ultimately able to flee the home and tell her mother she’d been attacked.

King County deputies responded to the area and searched for the attacker, but did not locate anyone. Using a new fingerprint system able to analyze palm prints, though, investigators identified Gonzales as a suspect in the attack.

Gonzales was arrested at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after the identification was made. According to the detective’s statement, he admitted to attacking the girl and said he was both drunk and high during the attack.

Gonzales remains jailed on $500,000 bail. He is expected to be arraigned Dec. 22 in King County Superior Court.

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By Tony Dondero Email the author 4:50 pm

Shoreline resident Jesse R. Gonzales, 38, pled guilty to the crimes of Rape One and Burglary One and on June 25 he was sentenced to receive a minimum 25 years to life indeterminate sentence.

In December of 2011, Gonzales entered the Shoreline residence of a 12-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her. Her siblings were in the house and asleep in other rooms during the incident. Gonzales lived a block away from the residence.

fThe case was solved within 72 hours due to a combination of work by members of the King County Sheriff’s Office and the Shoreline Police Department. Once the arrest was made the Sheriff’s Office worked closely with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and because of the police work and DNA that placed Gonzales with the victim, prosecutors had a solid case and the leverage to negotiate a guilty plea.

The victim and her family are very relieved and very pleased with the efforts of everyone involved in the case, according to the Sheriff's Office.

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