NAPA COUNTY, Calif. (BCN) -- Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Wednesday the conviction of 39-year-old Samuel Cereda on 50 charges involving the rape and molestation of two members of his family who were children at the time of the offenses.
A jury found Cereda guilty Friday of the following counts: 21 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child; 27 counts of forcible lewd act upon a child under 14; and two counts of lewd act upon a child under 14. The jury also ruled as true special allegations against Cereda that he committed sexual offenses against multiple other victims, that he engaged in substantial sexual conduct with them and committed these offenses by force, fear, violence or duress.
The convictions for all 50 counts are the result of contact with one family member between 2017 and 2019 and another family member between 2009 and 2011, when the survivors were between 8 and 13 years old, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the District Attorney's office. Now between the ages of 16 and 20, both survivors testified at the jury trial.
Prosecutors said the investigation started with the Napa Police Department and was triggered when one of the survivors disclosed the abuse to a friend, who then encouraged her to report to a trusted school official. While conducting their investigation, Napa Police Department detectives learned of the molestation of the second survivor, which had occurred many years prior and in a different county.
The Napa County District Attorney's Office took jurisdiction over all of the offenses and prosecuted them together as part of one case.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Agnes Dziadur, who commended the survivors.
"Against all odds, including complications and delays due to a global pandemic, the survivors were able to speak their truths and the jury listened and held the defendant accountable for all of his crimes," she said. "I am so grateful that we could achieve justice for them in this case."
Cereda is being held without bail and faces a life sentence in state prison. He will be back in court for a sentencing hearing Dec. 1 at 8:30 a.m.
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