Repeat Sex Offender Gets 132 Years to Life

A Garden Grove man convicted two months ago of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl while she slept, then raping and beating her, was sentenced Friday to 132 years to life in prison.

John Moses Otto, 23, also was convicted of molesting another girl and attempting to rape his 21-year-old cousin in 1996. In all, Otto was convicted of 10 felony counts ranging from burglary to rape and attempted rape.

“He’s not going to see civilized society again,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Kay Anderle said.

The prosecution charged during the trial that Otto sneaked into the 9-year-old girl’s house in July 1997 and abducted her in the middle of the night. He drove around, raped her a number of times and returned her to the house, the prosecution said.

Otto had lived in the house and was seeking revenge against the girl’s parents, who had evicted him, Anderle said.

Just a month before, he had sought sex from a 13-year-old girl, and in 1996 he tried to rape a cousin. Anderle said Otto picked his victims among close friends or relatives.

Deputy Public Defender Philip Zalewski argued during the trial that the accusations against his client were fabricated by the 9-year-old girl and her family.

He did not deny that Otto propositioned the 13-year-old girl but said it was never consummated. The relationship with the cousin, he argued, was consensual.

Anderle said Otto will have to serve nearly 113 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.