Bill Parry
CORONA — A Corona man has been found guilty by a jury of repeatedly sexually assaulting a young boy, beginning when the victim was 5 and continuing until he was 16, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Francisco Mendez, 59, was convicted last Thursday of two counts of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, one count of first-degree criminal sexual act, three counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, the DA said.
The attacks happened during visits by the victim to Mendez’s Corona home, Brown said.
The victim, now 19 years old, told a counselor about the abuse about seven months after it stopped, and the counselor urged the boy to tell his parents, who then contacted authorities, the DA said.
“The defendant would have probably escaped punishment for his crime had his victim not bravely testified about the defendant’s abusive and manipulative behavior. The jury has spoken and the defendant now faces a considerable prison sentence as punishment,” Brown said. Mendez, who faces up to 25 years or more in prison, was related to the victim through marriage, according to the DA.
