Local News in Brief : Van Nuys Man Gets 6 Months for Molesting Granddaughter

A 53-year-old Van Nuys man was ordered to spend six months in County Jail and placed on five years probation Thursday and after he pleaded guilty to sexually molesting his granddaughter on several occasions over two years.

Charles Arthur Caldara will receive credit for 113 days he has already spent in jail, leaving 67 days to serve.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Deborah S. Elliot said she was “outraged” that Pasadena Superior Court Judge Melvin B. Grover did not sentence Caldara to state prison. Caldara pleaded guilty Sept. 4 to eight counts of oral copulation and child molestation and faced a maximum of 64 years in prison, Elliot said.

Grover said he followed the recommendation of a psychiatric report prepared by the state Department of Corrections, which concluded that Caldara, who had no criminal record, would benefit from probation and counseling.

“Those people are trained to make these evaluations,” Grover said.

The granddaughter, who is now 14, told police that Caldara, a janitor, took her on jobs with him and paid her to have sex with him in the businesses he was cleaning. The acts took place between August, 1982, and August, 1984, police said.

The case was one of a handful of criminal matters over which Grover retained control when he was transferred last month from Van Nuys Superior Court after a lengthy feud with the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors filed “affidavits of prejudice” removing Grover from criminal cases, and he now handles mostly civil matters.