Sex Offender Escapes Life Sentence

A judge on Monday rejected a maximum life sentence for a 42-year-old woman who received her third-strike felony conviction for failing to register with police as a sex offender after she moved from Santa Ana to Lake Forest.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary P. Ryan instead sentenced Ginger Bartolon to a year in County Jail, using his discretion to disregard a sexual molestation conviction that had been counted as her first two felonies under the state’s controversial three-strikes law.

Bartolon, standing nervously with her arms crossed as the judge made his sentence, faced 25 years to life in prison under the law.

The judge, in rejecting a third-strike sentence, cited Bartolon’s spotless record since she was paroled in 1988, and said there was no evidence that she poses a threat to the community.

The woman, who has since married and has a young daughter, testified she did not know she was required by law to register again as a sex offender after she completed parole and changed residences.

“The court has to stand between the power of the prosecution and do what’s right,” her lawyer, Donald C. Hall, said. “The judge had the courage to do what’s right, given what he had to deal with.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Middleton sought the maximum sentence, saying there was ample evidence to show she intentionally failed to register. “She will never learn,” he told the judge.

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In 1984, Bartolon, formerly Ginger Castle, was convicted, along with her then-husband, of molesting his 3-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew. According to prosecutors, the children were forced to eat and drink human waste and participate in sex with a dog--charges the woman still vehemently denies.

Her former husband, Frank Castle, was sentenced to 26 years in prison, where he has since died. Bartolon was sentenced to 10 years and eight months but was paroled after serving four years.

After being paroled, Bartolon moved to Santa Ana, where she registered as a sex offender. She later moved to Lake Forest after her completing her parole, but did not register with police as state law requires, prompting her arrest in April 1995.

Failing to register as a sex offender was changed from a misdemeanor to a felony offense in January 1995.

A jury in August deliberated about a day before convicting her of a felony failure to register count.

Because she was previously convicted on two separate charges of sexually molesting a child, one of the serious or violent crimes that count as strikes under the three-strikes law, Bartolon faced a third-strike sentence.

Ryan’s sentence Monday includes probation and a 3-year prison term should she violate any terms of her punishment. She registered again as required a day after her arrest, her lawyer told the judge.