Judge urged to throw out plea bargain in sex assaults of disabled women

Advocates for the disabled are urging a Los Angeles County judge to throw out a plea bargain for an employee of an El Monte day care center who confessed to sexually assaulting three mentally disabled clients, saying his eight-year-sentence was an injustice.

The proposed sentence for Juan Fernando Flores “does not reflect the harm sustained by the victims nor the severity of the crimes committed,” Robert J. Baldo, executive director of the Assn. of Regional Center Agencies, said in a letter to Superior Court Judge Jack Hunt.

“We urge the court to reconsider this sentence in light of the vulnerability of the victims and the defendant’s abuse of his position of trust and authority.”

The association represents 21 nonprofit regional centers in California that serve more than 240,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities. Baldo’s letter was one of several sent since the plea bargain was proposed at a pre-trial hearing Jan. 27 in his Pomona courtroom.

Another organization, The ARC of California, which advocates for people with developmental disabilities and their families, asked the court to accept a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the plea bargain. “The defendant only showed concern for his own sexual cravings and no regard for the victims,” Thomas Coleman, a lawyer representing the group wrote in the brief.

Pete R. Navarro, a lawyer for Flores, did not return calls. But, in a court filing, he said he opposed allowing uninvolved parties to participate in sentencing hearings.”If allowed,” he said in part, “it would lead to a circus atmosphere in the courts and further exacerbate the logjam that often occurs in the criminal courts.

Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said her office represents the victims, and none of their families had asked the office to dismiss the plea bargain. In fact, some of the family members are expected to speak at a sentencing hearing set for Thursday.

The mother of one victim told The Times, however, that she was disappointed by the plea bargain, viewing it as too short a prison sentence for the crimes.

If the case went to trial and Flores were convicted of all the charges, he would face up to 27 years in prison. Flores worked as a cook and driver for the day care center formerly known as Healthy Start on Garvey Avenue. El Monte police say he confessed to the sexual assaults — including two rapes and an attempted sodomy — after his arrest last year.

The three victims all have mental disabilities, including Down’s syndrome, and range in age from 24 to 54. Though it can be difficult to put such victims on the stand, the prosecutors already have Flores’ confession to police and preliminary hearing testimony from a former employee who said she witnessed one of the assaults.

lisa.girion@latimes.com