Countywide : Man Sentenced for Child Molestation
A Ventura man whose boasts about being a former Big Brother helped gain the trust of an Ojai single mother and her son was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for molesting the 11-year-old boy.
Richard Sykora, 44, was called a predator by Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele, who rejected a defense request to place the defendant on probation so he could get therapy for his sexual attraction to young boys.
Court records say Sykora met the latest victim in May, 1991, at a video arcade in Ventura. After telling the boy and his mother that he was a teacher and had been a Big Brother, the mother allowed Sykora to spend significant amounts of time with the child.
The boy told his mother about the molestations after he started exhibiting behavioral problems, court records state. Sykora pleaded guilty to one count each of child molestation and attempted child molestation.
Sykora was a Big Brother from 1978 until 1986 and is suspected of molesting three boys during that time, according to a pre-sentence report prepared for the court.
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