Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : State Court Dismisses Sex Charges : Ruling: Appellate judge says man cannot be tried in child molestations 20 years ago because of new law’s effective date.

A man charged with molesting four girls more than 20 years ago cannot be prosecuted under a new law designed for such cases because he was accused before the law took effect, an appeals court has ruled.

The ruling means William Lynch, 65, of Santa Clarita, will not stand trial on eight charges of lewd conduct with a minor, stemming from alleged incidents between 1965 and 1972. The women made their accusations to authorities in 1993. He was charged last June under a law that took effect Jan. 1, 1994.

The law allows child molestation suspects to be charged within a year of the date the crime is reported to police, regardless of when the alleged crime occurred. But Lynch’s attorney, Frank Di Sabatino, argued the new law could not be applied retroactively to his client.

“If they want to apply the law from now on fine, but don’t apply it to previous statutes that have already run their term,” Di Sabatino said.

In the 1960s and ‘70s when the alleged molestation occurred, a three-year statute of limitations existed on such cases.

State Appellate Court Judge Judith Champagne issued her ruling Monday, which was not challenged by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The appeals court is expected to order the dismissal of the case within 60 days.

“I am very happy about it,” Lynch said Wednesday in a telephone interview. He said he did not want to comment further until he received official notice of the court’s ruling.

Prosecutors will not appeal the decision because, regardless of Lynch’s guilt or innocence, the appellate court’s interpretation of the law appears unassailable, said George Palmer, acting head deputy of the district attorney’s appellate division.

“We believe the court arrived at the right decision in this particular case,” he said.

Lynch was charged with molesting three sisters and their childhood friend when the girls were between 7 and 13 years old. He often baby-sat the sisters and is accused of molesting the girls at his Van Nuys apartment and a home he later purchased in Saugus.

One of the alleged victims, now an adult, secretly taped phone and personal conversations with him about her memories under the direction of authorities in July, 1993.

Di Sabatino asked judges during two previous court hearings to dismiss the case, arguing the law was being unfairly applied to Lynch. Both times the requests were overturned, making prosecutors confident the appellate court would uphold an order to make Lynch stand trial.

But prosecutors said research eventually convinced them that the new law could not be applied to Lynch.