Judge Promises Life Sentence for Child Molester

A judge told a convicted child molester Friday that he will be sent to prison “for the rest of his natural life.”

In one of the biggest cases of its kind in San Diego County, Ezra John Adams, 47, of Ramona, was convicted in November, 1989, of 86 counts of child molestation involving seven girls.

The prosecutor and the Probation Department had recommended to Superior Court Judge David Gill that Adams receive a sentence of 270 years, which would make it one of the longest sentences ever handed down in the county.

Gill conducted a sentencing hearing Friday, but ran out of time just as he was to announce the actual sentence. However, the judge did inform Deputy Dist. Atty. Catherine Stephenson and several victims in the audience that Adams would receive “a very substantial penalty.” It might not be 270 years, he said, but when he does pass sentence, it will be enough to keep Adams in prison for the rest of his life.

The official sentence will be handed down Thursday.

Gill denied four separate motions asking for delays and a new trial based on recent findings by the county grand jury and the Juvenile Justice Commission that criticized the procedures of the Children’s Services Bureau and the attitude of its social workers. The sentencing had already been delayed for more than two years, for various reasons.

In an unusually long statement, Adams vehemently denied his guilt and said the victims had been “coerced” by the county protective agency.

The victims were 8 to 17 years old at the time of Adams’ arrest. He lived in a mobile-home park near Ramona. The molestations occurred over a five-year period.

In asking for the 270-year sentence, Stephenson noted Adams’ “total lack of remorse” and the “professionalism and planning” that went into the individual acts.