Attack on Girlfriend’s Mother Leads to Prison

A Sun Valley man who admitted that he raped and beat his former girlfriend’s mother after choking her was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in state prison.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Robert D. Fratianne admonished the man, Andy W. Baca, 22, to “get your life together” as he pronounced sentence.

Baca, a self-employed carpenter, pleaded guilty in August to forcible rape, forced oral copulation and assault with a deadly weapon in the attack on his girlfriend’s 40-year-old mother at the woman’s North Hollywood home on Dec. 3, 1984.

According to a probation report, Baca had been drinking gin with beer chasers before the attack and straight vodka for much of the day. Baca admitted to a probation officer that he had a drinking problem.

The victim continues to suffer paralysis in her face because of Baca’s attack, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth A. Loveman told Fratianne before sentencing. The woman suffered a broken nose and jaw, Loveman said in an interview.

During sentencing, Fratianne said that Baca had no history of violence.

“I can see what alcohol has done to you,” he said. “It’s almost destroyed your life. Obviously there is something in your system that alcohol does not agree with. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but we’re going to teach you right now.”