Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Man Gets 21 Years in Rape of Woman, 84 : Violence: Assailant, 20, has history of sex offenses. Frail victim, who was also beaten, had recently left convalescent hospital.

A 20-year-old Antelope Valley man with a history of sex offenses was sentenced to 21 years in state prison Monday for sexually assaulting a frail 84-year-old neighbor after breaking into her house in a drunken stupor.

Lancaster Superior Court Judge Haig Kehiayan imposed the sentence on Marco A. Gudino, a former San Fernando Valley resident, after rejecting Gudino’s request to withdraw the no contest pleas he had entered to two felony counts earlier this month.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kelly Cromer said Gudino’s sexual attack on the victim lasted for about three hours starting the night of May 14 and continuing into early May 15. Cromer said Gudino also punched the victim twice, once on each side of her face.

Gudino, an admitted drug user who had been drinking heavily that night at a nearby party, said he remembers little of the episode. But Cromer said she believes Gudino specifically sought out the victim, knowing her from growing up in the area and knowing she would be vulnerable.

In court Monday, the victim’s daughter testified that her mother had been out of a convalescent hospital for just several months at the time of the attack after undergoing hip replacement surgery. The woman used a walker at the time and still does, authorities said.

Gudino originally faced 45 to 54 years in prison on five felony counts. But he avoided trial earlier this month by pleading to one count of oral copulation and another felony in exchange for the 21 year sentence. He tried to cancel that deal Monday, but the judge rejected his request.

According to Gudino’s probation report, at age 16 he was twice found to have committed sex offenses, including at least one with a young girl, and was sentenced to treatment programs before being released in 1992. Gudino also said he had been molested as a youngster, the report said.