Acid Attacker Given 34 Years

A 65-year-old maintenance man was sentenced today to the maximum 34 years in prison for trying to rape and kill Cheryl Bess, a high school student who was disfigured and blinded when her assailant threw sulfuric acid on her face.

Superior Court Judge Don A. Turner said Jack Oscar King’s attack on Bess in the Mojave Desert on Oct. 24, 1984, which left the girl virtually without a face, had been committed “totally without conscience or any feelings for humanity in general.” Last month a jury convicted King, who worked in the apartment building where Bess lived, of eight felony counts. Bess, 16, was not present at the sentencing.