Man will spend at least a decade in prison for sexual abuse of Tri-City girls

Two young girls spent nearly half a decade being sexually abused by a man they were supposed to be able to trust.

Family members watched as they became more withdrawn, dropped out of school and tried to escape. But after two trials, the man at the center of their pain, Leonel Camacho Gonzalez is heading to prison for at least a decade.

“We have two innocent kids who will never be the same,” Judge David Petersen said during the 45-year-old man’s sentencing hearing on Monday. “Hopefully they have the strength to move on and be productive and be healthy, but as of now, they are still suffering.”

A jury found Camacho Gonzalez guilty of two counts of first-degree child molestation following a May trial. They also found he abused a position of trust.

The verdict followed a weeklong trial in January that ended in a hung jury. This meant the two girls needed to testify twice.

The crimes carry an indeterminate sentence, meaning he will serve a minimum time in prison. Once that is finished a state board will decide if he can be released. He could serve up to life in prison.

The minimum sentence would normally be between about five years and about seven years.

Prosecutors asked for an additional four years on top of the maximum end of the sentencing range - bringing the maximum to about 11 years in prison.

Deputy Prosecutor Holai Holbrook told Petersen that the crimes had left a lasting effect on the girls. One told interviewers that the crime left them seeing their value in the attention and validation they received from others.

“This is something that has ripple effects,” she said. “This is someone who was supposed to be there that they could count on and trust.”

Defense attorneys asked for a 6 1/2 year minimum sentence, because they believed that the crime wasn’t any different than any other child molestation case.

“Presumably, the individuals who contributed and wrote the sentencing guidelines have also contemplated similar impact to victims that are similarly situated,” defense attorney Stephanie McAloon said.

Camacho Gonzalez didn’t speak during the sentencing hearing. He is filing an appeal.

After taking a short break, Petersen landed on a 10-year sentence, which he said took into account the damage done to the two girls in the case.

“We look at this and we look at victims who are going to struggle with relationships. They’re going to struggle in school,” he said. “That carries into employment, to their families when they have families. .... Those are lifelong consequences.”

Sexual abuse

Camacho Gonzalez started abusing the two girls when they were about 7 and 8 years old and continued into their mid-teens. He made them touch him and touched them inappropriately, court documents said.

He also took at least one of the girls out on trips and bought her items and forced her to kiss him.

The incidents happened in Kennewick and Benton County.

A relative noticed something was wrong with the children and alerted a Colville advocacy center. One of the girls had told her that Camacho Gonzalez had sexually abused them.