SALINAS -- A pastor who admitted molesting two girls -- one, a mentally handicapped parishioner, and the other, his adopted daughter -- was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in prison.
Donald Domelle, 65, apologized to his victims, his family and the Baptist Temple of Salinas after his sentencing. Domelle pleaded guilty to two felony counts of lewd conduct with a child in January as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Domelle was arrested Dec. 21 after sheriff's investigators began looking into allegations that he molested a 16-year-old mentally handicapped girl who attended his church. Investigators said he initially denied the claims but later admitted to having sex with her.
Domelle then led investigators to the second victim, his adopted daughter, now 25, who was 3 when she came under Domelle's custody and was adopted by him six years later. She told investigators that he repeatedly molested her between the ages of 10 and 19, said prosecutor Gary Thelander.
On Thursday, Thelander read a letter from the mother of the 16-year-old victim, who she said had looked up to Domelle as a grandfather.
"I trusted him," said the mother, "and didn't realize that the one person who I needed to protect my children from was the one person who I believed was helping me protect them from others just like him."<
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