Man who sexually assaulted girls he met on Instagram sentenced 33 years
SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) - A 25-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 33 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting several girls in Santa Ana and Anaheim that he lured through Instagram with promises of money, alcohol and drugs.
Brayan Padilla-Gomez was convicted Aug. 24 of five counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a minor younger than 14, two counts of administering a drug, and contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, all felonies.
Jurors did not reach verdicts on single felony counts each of harmful matter sent to a minor with the intent of seduction, contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense and lewd or lascivious acts on a minor younger than 14. Those charges were dismissed.
One of the girls told police on Jan. 26, 2022 she was assaulted by Padilla-Gomez, whom she met online when she was 13, according to a trial brief from Deputy District Attorney Christina Warden.
Are you or someone you know a recent survivor of sexual assault? Help is available. Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) provides a 24/7 national sexual assault hotline, which can be reached at 1-800-656-4673.
The two chatted through Instagram in September 2021, and then agreed to meet in October 2021 to smoke marijuana, Warden said. He picked her up and later in the evening, he said he wanted to have sex with her, but she said no, Warden said.
Padilla-Gomez started removing her clothes but stopped when the panicky and crying girl pleaded with him to stop, Warden said. She got out of the car and went home, Warden said.
The two resumed chatting online again about her desire to run away from home and he offered to come pick her up and give her alcohol and drugs, Warden said.
Padilla-Gomez picked her up between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and took her to a CVS parking lot, where he gave her marijuana and alcohol and "she felt as if she was falling in and out of sleep and does not remember much other than the defendant driving to an area across from the Santa Ana Zoo," Warden said.
The victim woke up the next morning nude in a bedroom and saw blood around her groin and bruising on her inner thigh, Warden said, adding the victim said she had never had sex before.
Padilla-Gomez was also accused of sending video of himself having sex with the girl to one of her friends via Instagram, Warden said. The victim does not appear to have given consent to do the video and it was sent to her friend as he attempted to persuade her to have sex with him, Warden said.
Padilla-Gomez was accused of asking the other girl, who was 14, to send him pictures of herself nude and offered to give her drugs for sex, Warden said.
The first girl lured the defendant to a club in Santa Ana, where police were waiting to arrest him, Warden said. Padilla-Gomez admitted having sex with the girl in a parking structure and three more times in his apartment, Warden said.
Padilla-Gomez also admitted to police he tried to contact her friend to have sex as well and that he knew it was a mistake but he did it anyway "because he was lonely," Warden said.
A search of Padilla-Gomez's electronic devices also showed him having conversations via Instagram with other girls around the same age in which he attempted to trade money, alcohol and drugs for sex, Warden said.
Padilla-Gomez was also accused of meeting two other girls at a park in Anaheim in October 2021, Warden said. One of the girls was just on the cusp of turning 13, the prosecutor said.
He kissed the girl on the mouth multiple times despite her saying she was disgusted and did not want to be kissed, Warden said. He took the girls to an apartment and drank alcohol, Warden said.
The 12-year-old girl drank until she was blacking out and woke up with her pants unbuttoned and felt that he had sexually assaulted her with his finger, Warden said.
Padilla-Gomez later dropped the girls off at Main Place Mall in Santa Ana, Warden said. The other girl met up with him and another girl later on and he offered to pay them for oral sex, but they refused, Warden said.