Molestation admission brings 26 years prison

A 29-year-old Kentucky man who sexually assaulted three female cousins over a seven-year span when they lived together in Menlo Park was sentenced Wednesday to 26 years in prison and must register as a sex offender.

Tyrone Darnell Williams receives credit for 588 days against his term, according to court records clerks.

On Jan. 16, Williams pleaded no contest to 10 counts of molestation and admitting substantial sexual contact with the victims in return for a negotiated term of 26 years in prison. Williams took the prosecution offer rather than face life in prison if convicted of 33 felonies by a jury.

Beginning in 1992, Williams, according to the District Attorney’s Office, raped and sodomized two sisters and a cousin ages 9, 9 and 6, who lived with their grandmother in Menlo Park. Williams is another cousin of the three alleged victims who also lived at the residence.

The girls reported the assaults to the grandmother but she did not believe them, prosecutors contend. Two years ago, the girls told their mother and one victim finally told a high school counselor who alerted police. By that time, Williams had moved to Kentucky where Menlo Park police arrested him in September 2006.

Prosecutors initially charged Williams with 55 counts of molestation but a judge dropped 22 of them at a preliminary hearing, citing insufficient evidence.

Williams s required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Any future convictions will count as a third strike with a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life.

Williams has been in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.