El Cajon

For a bizarre scheme in which she impersonated the devil, an El Cajon woman was sentenced Friday to 48 years in state prison for molesting four girls and a boy.

Lori Bartz, 25, was sentenced by San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Greer, who described her as “a danger to society.”

Bartz pleaded guilty Dec. 10 to nine counts of performing lewd, lascivious acts with minors, forcible oral copulation and rape with a foreign object.

Her sentence was two years more than the 46-year term given Oct. 15 to a co-defendant, Robert Wilkins Jr., 38, of El Cajon, for molesting some of the same victims.

Bartz had originally been charged with 70 child molestation counts and would have faced 376 years in prison had she been sentenced consecutively on each count, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery said.

Avery said they offered a plea bargain to Bartz to spare the kids, now teen-agers, from testifying. At the preliminary hearing, some fainted and vomited when asked about details of the molestations, which occurred from 1984-86.

Bartz’s attorney, Michael Butler, said: “The case has been blown out of proportion.”

“Sure, she’s a little bit off. She’s a little bit different than the rest of us,” Butler said. He said Bartz is remorseful for her actions.

The victims were all from El Cajon and Lakeside. They met Bartz at roller skating rinks or lived in the apartment complex where she lived. At the time, two were 11 years of age, two were 12, and one was 18.