CASE OF INTEREST
Date: January 14, 2002
Case: People v. Gary Bryant
Contact: Sheri Greco, Special Assault & Child Abuse Unit
Telephone: 874-6524
District Attorney Jan Scully announced that defendant Gary Bryant was
sentenced today to the maximum term of 6 years in state prison. Last
month the defendant was found guilty of 21 counts of child molest after
a court trial before the Honorable Judge Jack Sapunor. The charges all
involved substantial sexual conduct and occurred approximately 19 years
ago between 1982 and 1985 when the victim was a teenaged boy.
fter 18 years of silence the victim came forward to disclose his long
term sexual abuse following a media release last year reporting that
Gary Bryant was the primary suspect in the abduction and molest of a
14 year old boy from the Frys Electronic Store in Sacramento. The multiple
charges were filed pursuant to Penal Code Section 803(g), a statute
enacted by the legislature in 1994 to permit the prosecution of molest
cases after the statute of limitations had expired.
The victim and his mother were both present for the pronouncement of
Judgment & Sentence and both gave impact statements to the court asking
for the Judge to impose the maximum penalty possible. The victim stated
that he had lived with nearly twenty years of emotional pain, guilt,
and lost innocence and that only recently has he begun the process of
healing the emotional scars, which he is forced to bear for the rest
of his life as a direct result of the defendant's actions.
Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco characterized the defendant as
a sexual predator who posed a danger to the community. "He victimized
a young boy over a long period of time and his conduct in this case
warrants the maximum term in prison," Greco stated. In imposing the
maximum term available under the law, as it existed in the 1980's, the
Judge noted that the defendant's crimes had involved planning and sophistication.
The defendant had also abused a position of trust and "the passage of
time does not lessen the effect of these crimes," the Judge stated.
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