Written by City News Service



A Mission Viejo man who was sexually assaulted as a child was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison today for molesting a friend's son while babysitting him.

Javier Rudy Mejia, 34, was convicted June 12 of one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of oral copulation of a child younger than 10 and a misdemeanor count of showing pornography to a child. Mejia met the boy's mother when they were neighbors in an apartment complex in Orange, Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky said. They struck up a close friendship, and she would ask Mejia to look after the boy at times, starting when he was 6 years old, the prosecutor added.

Mejia showed the boy pornographic videos and magazines before performing oral sex on the victim several times between November 2004 and July 2007, Bokosky said. When the boy was 9 years old, Mejia moved with his family to Mission Viejo, where some of the crimes happened as the defendant looked after the child as her mother celebrated a holiday with friends, Bokosky said.

The victim told his mother about the sexual assaults when he was 12, Bokosky said. Orange County Superior Court Judge Daniel Barrett McNerney said he decided against adding another 15 years to Mejia's sentence because of the defendant's own victimization at the hands of a neighbor in Orange.

"Not that it justifies or excuses (the crimes), but it's a factor the court is considering," McNerney said.

Also, Mejia has a low IQ and had no prior criminal history, McNerney said.