Businessman Gets 79 Years in Prison for Sex Assaults

A Fountain Valley businessman Friday was sentenced to 79 years in prison for raping three women and attacking two others--one of the toughest sentences ever handed down in an Orange County sexual assault case.

Thomas Panichas, 32, who told the jury at his trial that he was just “a good-looking guy” to whom women were easily attracted, had steadfastly denied all the allegations. But in court Friday, Panichas told the judge that while sex with each of the women had been consentual, “I may have misread their actions.”

Santa Ana Superior Court Judge David H. Brickner, however, told Panichas that he was a man “with delusions of grandeur” who thought he could talk his way out of any situation. Brickner called Panichas a man “hunting women constantly.”

“One only shudders to think how many others (victims) are out there,” the judge told him.

Panichas was convicted on 19 counts of rape and sexual assault involving five women in incidents from 1985 to 1988.

Four of the five victims made emotional statements to the court Friday before Panichas was sentenced.

“I only hope that he is violated in prison the same way he violated me,” one of them bitterly told the court.

“This has affected my husband, my family and everyone that cares about me . . . ,” another testified. “If he had been put away the first time, this would never have happened to me.”

Panichas will not be eligible for parole until he is in his early 70s, according to state statutes.