Man Gets 18-Year Term in Child Sex Assaults : Courts: Jack Soboyna is sentenced for molesting an Ojai girl and an Oxnard brother and sister.

Since she was abducted and molested two years ago, the 5-year-old Ojai girl has been afraid to trust the world.

But a Ventura County judge on Wednesday sentenced Jack Steven Soboyna--a former elementary school janitor--to nearly 18 years in prison for sex crimes against the young victim and two Oxnard children.

And now the girl’s mother hopes her daughter can rest a little easier.

“She’s relieved that she knows he’s behind bars, and she knows it won’t happen to any other kids,” said the mother--who attended the sentencing hoping that Soboyna, 44, of Ojai, would get the maximum punishment.

Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell imposed the toughest sentence possible--ordering the defendant to 11 years in prison for the assault against the Ojai girl and six years, eight months for other crimes.

Soboyna was connected to the attack on the Ojai girl after being arrested last year in Oxnard on other sex charges. A detective remembered the Ojai case, and Soboyna’s DNA matched evidence taken from the girl’s undergarments.

The girl was riding her tricycle in a neighbor’s yard about noon on Sept. 25, 1992, when Soboyna persuaded her to ride in his car. He lured the victim with talk of having kittens and by offering to let her play with a water pistol, according to a probation report.

He drove her to his home three miles away, molested her and dropped her off not far from her home about an hour later.

The girl went into an open garage and sobbed until she was discovered.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrice D. Koenig said it was one of the worst cases she has prosecuted, partly because it involved a small child kidnaped by a stranger.

“This is an unusual case where a child was playing in the front yard and was kidnaped,” she said.

Soboyna was originally charged with 14 sex-related crimes. He pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to one count of kidnaping for molestation, one count of making pornographic videos with children and two counts of child molestation.

Although he pleaded guilty, Soboyna later denied to probation officials that he kidnaped and molested the Ojai girl, telling them that the DNA tests were wrong. He made no such denial at his sentencing Wednesday, however.

He acknowledged his other crimes, which stem from videotapes he made of a 9-year-old and the boy’s 14-year-old sister eating Popsicles in a sexually suggestive manner. Soboyna has blamed his conduct on a 16-year cocaine addiction.

Alluding to those charges only, Soboyna’s attorney said his client has acknowledged his mistakes.

“Mr. Soboyna accepted the legal responsibility for a very, very serious act,” said Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn. “And he hopes that while he is serving his prison sentence that all these parties can put this behind them.”

But the mother of the Ojai girl said her daughter is having trouble erasing the events from her mind. She said that the girl talks about what happened frequently and tries to warn other children to be careful.

The probation report said the girl even told her kindergarten classmates about her experience in the hope that the students will be extra-cautious about getting into cars with strangers.

“I don’t think he deserves to get out at all,” the girl’s mother said of Soboyna before leaving the Hall of Justice. “He’ll do it again.”

Prosecutor Koenig said Soboyna has previous criminal convictions for burglary and check forgery.