Molester Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
A 66-year-old Loma Portal man was sentenced Monday to 12 years in state prison for molesting a 15-year-old girl for several years.
Colby Watson Flaherty, a retired supervisor for the California Department of Transportation, received the maximum sentence from San Diego Municipal Judge Jesus Rodriguez.
Flaherty pleaded guilty Oct. 21 to oral copulation with a girl under 14 and to six counts of employing the same girl to perform lewd acts that were photographed.
Rodriguez also fined Flaherty $500.
The mother of the victim, who is now 16, tearfully asked the judge for the maximum sentence, saying the girl had been “betrayed.”
“This man murdered my daughter’s innocence, and he should be put away for the rest of his life,” the woman said.
Rodriguez denied probation, saying Flaherty demonstrated criminal sophistication in that the victim was paid in cash and in candy to participate.
Rodriguez set a restitution hearing for Feb. 17 to determine how much, if any, Flaherty can be ordered to pay for therapy for the victim.
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