As expected, a 25-year-old Hutchinson man convicted in a child sexual abuse case was sentenced Friday to life in prison.
Salvador Araujo-Gutierrez was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. However, the indecent liberties count was an alternate count to the rape, meaning he could only be sentenced on one. The one count of rape falls under Jessica’s law which called for a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
There was a special setting scheduled for the case because of defense motions filed in the case. The defense asked an judgment of acquittal and also questioned whether Jessica’s Law is constitutional. Judge Tim Chambers denied the judgment of acquittal and went along with previous Kansas Supreme Court rulings that sentences imposed under Jessica’s Law are constitutional.
The jury couldn’t find Araujo-Gutierrez guilty on four counts involving this case, where the state alleged that three encounters occurred between 2006 and 2011, but they did find him guilty for an incident in the basement of a Hutchinson home. That’s where they found his DNA from a stain on new carpeting. The child had pointed out where that stain might be which wasn’t able to be detected by the naked eye. However, the KBI tested the fibers of the carpet and discovered the DNA matched the defendant. Judge Chambers says that evidence was overwhelming.
The defendant had first claimed the stain wasn’t his, then later claimed that the stain was his, but it happened when he had an affair with the victims mother. But, the mother of the victim denies that ever happened.
The grandmother of the victim gave a statement that Araujo-Gutierrez “murdered her innocence and destroyed her childhood” referring to her granddaughter. She says she looks at her granddaughter and sees “sad eyes.” Araujo-Gutierrez didn’t speak during the sentencing hearing.
There will be an appeal filed in the case.