PORT HUENEME : Convicted Molester Avoids Prison Term

A 42-year-old Port Hueneme man convicted of engaging in sex acts with a 6-year-old boy is mentally disabled and should not be sent to prison, a jury ruled Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch promptly ordered Dennis Ray Thompson remanded to the California Department of Mental Health for placement in a state hospital.

“He’s not going to be out” for a long time, Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrice D. Koenig said after the sentencing.

The same jury convicted Thompson--who has brain damage and suffers from a severe speech impediment--of five counts of child molestation, Koenig said.

Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn had argued for Thompson’s placement in a mental facility, saying he did not understand that what he did with the boy was wrong.