Tulare County man faces 200 years in prison for decades of child abuse, molestation

Sheyanne N Romero, Visalia Times-Delta
·2 min read
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A Tulare County man faces nearly 200 years in prison for molesting multiple children for more than a decade.

On Tuesday, Fernando Abarca Barragan, 55, was found guilty of 22 counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 and one count of lewd act upon a child between 14 and 15 years old. The jury also found true the special allegation of "substantial" sexual conduct and that his crimes were committed against multiple victims, according to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office.

Each count is a felony and are strike offenses,meaning he now has 23 strikes under the 3 Strikes law.

All the sexual assaults occurred in the Porterville area, according to investigators.

Below is a timeline of Barragan's assaults and his victims.

  • Six of the crimes occurred between Jan. 1, 1996, and Sept. 2, 2002, against a girl, who was between 7 and 13 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.

  • Two of the crimes occurred between Feb. 5, 1998, and Feb. 4, 2005, against a boy, who was between 7 and 9 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.

  • 12 of the crimes occurred between Dec. 10, 2002, and Dec. 9, 2009, against a girl, who between 7 and 13 years old at the time of the sexual assaults. An additional crime against the same victim occurred between Dec. 10, 2009, and Dec. 9, 2011, when she was 14 to 15 years old.

  • One of the crimes occurred between Nov. 14, 2010, and Nov. 13, 2014, against a girl, who was between 8 and 10 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.

  • One of the crimes occurred between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2008, against a girl, who was between 5 and 7 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.

Barragan was booked into Bob Wiley Detention Facility on Sept. 12, 2022, by Tulare County sheriff's deputies. He remains behind bars, according to an inmate search.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 6, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court. He faces over 182 years-to-life to life in prison. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Tulare County man faces 200 years in prison for decades of child abuse