Rapist Sentenced to Nearly 80 Years in Prison : Courts: Judge says it would ‘be fine’ if the harsh term means the former Mission Viejo salesman will die behind bars.

A man convicted of the rape and assault of two women was sentenced Friday to nearly 80 years in prison, the maximum allowed by law.

“That should be enough for you to die in state prison, and for the crimes you committed that would be fine,” Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald told Paul William Jensen.

“For something I didn’t do,” the 48-year-old Jensen retorted.

Jensen was convicted Nov. 4, 1991, of 25 counts of sexual assault, rape, kidnaping, using a gun and beating two women. He was acquitted of three counts involving a third woman.

Jensen’s attorney argued that the former Mission Viejo computer salesman was the victim of mistaken identity.

At the time of one of the attacks, Jensen was still on parole for sexual assault convictions involving four other women, for which he served 2 1/2 years in prison in the late 1980s.

In the most recent attacks, the women were approached in shopping centers in Santa Ana and Mission Viejo in 1990 and 1991. All three of Jensen’s accusers testified during the trial.

Fitzgerald said he found “zero” mitigation on Jensen’s behalf, so he was sentencing “as harshly as I could”--79 years, two months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The judge said that under the Penal Code, Jensen would not be eligible for a pardon by the governor for at least 30 years.

“And I can’t believe a governor would be so stupid as to release you,” Fitzgerald said.

Even with a governor’s pardon, prosecutors said, the minimum Jensen would serve would be close to 40 years.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora L. Lloyd said she was pleased with the sentence, since she had recommended the maximum penalty.

One of those assaulted, a 36-year-old Mission Viejo woman, said: “I’m just glad it’s over, and he’s where he’s supposed to be. I just want to get on with my life now. I feel like it’s behind me.”

Also in the courtroom were friends and relatives of the victims, and two of the jurors who decided the case.

“I’m overjoyed,” said Shawn Julian, who was the forewoman of the jury. “I just feel great . . . that he will probably never get out of jail, so he doesn’t do this anymore.”

Before the sentencing, Jensen testified Friday from the defense table in support of his motion for a new trial. He cited what he said were failures on the part of his former attorney.

Fitzgerald denied the motion, saying it was “no surprise that a convicted rapist is a liar.”