Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Update: A Camarillo man is about to be sentenced after a plea deal resolved all outstanding issues in his case involving crimes against a little girl and two elderly women.

In July, a jury found 28-year-old Joel Gonzales guilty of attempted murder of a 6-year-old girl he tried to strangle in October 2020.

They also found him guilty of sexually abusing an elderly woman at the Camarillo nursing facility where he worked as a caregiver around the same time.

However, they were unable to reach a verdict on three other charges. These included a sexual offense against a second elderly woman in the same facility.

The judge therefore declared the trial on these three counts void and ordered a retrial with a new jury to clarify the unresolved issues and the question of whether Gonzales was sane at the time of the crime.

But as part of Tuesday’s agreement, Gonzales pleaded guilty to sex crimes against the second, older victim and also admitted to several other unresolved specific charges.

And the question of mental health was withdrawn.

This clears the way for the verdict against Gonzales to be announced on September 25.

He faces 16 years and eight months in prison.