Teen Who Killed Father Sentenced to 21 Years

A former Orange County high school athlete retracted his claims of sexual abuse against his adoptive father and was sentenced to 21 years in prison for killing the man.

Matthew Swearingen, 19, pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter in a plea agreement for the 1998 killing of his father. Swearingen also admitted to his probation officer that his father, Robert Swearingen, did not molest him.

“He was very fearful and fabricated that information in an attempt to partially excuse his criminal behavior,” wrote senior probation officer Lina Soccio in a presentencing report.

Prosecutors say Swearingen, a football and baseball star at Villa Park High School, shot his father in Norco on June 12, 1998, and left the body in the garage for six days while he attended a graduation party, worked out and visited friends.

After his arrest, Swearingen claimed his father had sexually abused and beaten him.

He recently told Soccio that he and his 52-year-old father actually had been arguing for three days before the shooting. Swearingen said he wanted to take a one-week break from baseball, but his father wanted him to play year-round.

The younger Swearingen told officials that he picked up his father’s .38-caliber pistol to feel more dominant during the argument and fired it when his father allegedly tried to hit him.

Swearingen was 17 at the time of the slaying but was charged with murder as an adult.

Swearingen will be eligible for parole after serving 85% of his 21-year prison term. He plans to take college classes while in prison and is receiving support from his family, including his paternal grandparents, officials said.