OXNARD : Man Gets 43 Years for Molesting Boys

A transient whose soft-spoken, intelligent manner allowed him to befriend families in the Silver Strand Beach area and baby-sit children was sentenced Friday to 43 years in prison for molesting four young boys.

Before receiving his sentence, however, 25-year-old Kenji Richmond told Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell that he did not realize he was harming the boys, ages 8 to 11.

“Throughout my childhood I learned a great deal of this . . . “ Richmond said, referring to abuse he says he suffered as a youngster. “I learned to view it as normal. I didn’t know any other way because it happened to me so many times.”

Richmond, initially charged with 39 counts of felony child molestation, had pleaded guilty to 23 of the charges. On Friday, he told the judge that he entered the guilty plea to spare his victims from testifying, but denied molesting the children as many times as prosecutors claim.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela M. Henke-Dobroth asked Campbell to give Richmond the maximum--57 years. The prosecutor said she had earlier decided to ask for no more than 41 years, but changed her mind after hearing Richmond’s court statement, which she considered unremorseful.

“The bottom line here is that Mr. Richmond is a clearly sick individual. He is a pedophile,” Henke-Dobroth said.

But Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn asked the judge to show leniency and give Richmond a sentence of 19 years--the middle term under state sentencing guidelines. He said his client had accepted responsibility for his deeds.

The 43-year term includes five years tacked on because Richmond was on parole for a robbery conviction.

A mother of one of Richmond’s victims also addressed the court. She said she trusted Richmond and even did his laundry. Now, she told the judge, a long prison sentence was needed to aid her son’s recovery.

“I can only hope to tell my son that Kenji will be in jail until he is an old man,” the mother said.