A Woodland man will serve 24 years in state prison for child molestation and possessing child pornography.
Jack Stearns, 49, today pleaded no contest to eight counts of child molestation and one count of possession of child pornography and agreed to the prison term, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.
During summer 2002, Stearns began molesting a 10-year-old girl at his home, and continued to molest her until summer 2007, officials said. In February, Stearns again sexually assaulted the victim, who is now an adult.
The woman reported the crime to her mother, who called the Woodland Police Department. As part of the investigation, police seized a computer belonging to Stearns. Members of the Yolo County District Attorney's Child Sexual Predator Unit examined the computer and found that Stearns had been viewing sexually explicit images of young girls, according to the news release.
During the investigation, law enforcement officers also discovered that Stearns molested two other girls 20 years ago.
Yolo County Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg accepted Stearns' no-contest pleas and is scheduled to sentence him to state prison June 8.
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