The meaning of a human life doesn’t seem to have the same meaning it used to for people. We all want revenge, it is part of human nature, but that is why we have laws that don’t let victims of crime pick the sentence of the guilty. Of course when we do give a sentence of life, something I think should mean a lot more, we end up meaning in ten years or so we will think about letting you out. That is all well and good, but it is hardly a life sentence.
The Modesto Bee | Modesto woman sentenced to life in prison for kidnap, torture of teen
Modesto woman sentenced to life in prison for kidnap, torture of teen
By Emilie Raguso , eraguso@modbee.com
A Modesto woman was sentenced to life in prison today for torturing a teenage girl after the teenager stole the woman’s truck, the district attorney’s office said.
After being held for two nights in June 2007, the girl escaped as her captors were driving her to Stockton where they said she would be forced to perform sex acts for money, officials said.
According to authorities, Graciela Elmira Cervantes, 27, was “bent on revenge” after the girl, described as a runaway, took the woman’s truck without permission.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department reported that Cervantes held the victim captive for two days, starting June 24, at Cervantes’ home in the 2300 block of La Paz Court near Memorial Medical Center. Sheriff’s spokesman deputy Royjindar Singh said last year that Cervantes stabbed the victim several times before locking her in a bedroom closet.
Cervantes, prosecutors said, held the teenager for two nights, subjecting her to a range of torture: beating her; cutting her long hair to her scalp; burning her with cigarettes; cutting the web of her hand with scissors; and making her lick her own blood from the floor.
On June 26, Cervantes and her boyfriend put the victim in a car to drive her to Stockton, “where they told her she would be prostituted out for money,” according to the district attorney’s office.
During the ride, the driver pulled over near Gallo Glass, 605 South Santa Cruz Ave., and the girl jumped out of the car and ran toward the guard station, authorities said. Security personnel called law enforcement as Cervantes and her driver sped off.
Several members of Cervantes’ household, present during the torture, testified at the preliminary hearing, which spanned three days over two months, according to the district attorney’s office. Cervantes also pleaded to a robbery in September 2006 where, officials said, she held a knife to the victim’s neck and demanded her bank card and PIN.
“Both charges are serious and violent felonies which require the defendant to serve 85 percent of her time in prison,” according to information released by the district attorney’s office.
Cervantes will not be eligible for a parole hearing for 10 years.
Bee staff writer Emilie Raguso can be reached at eraguso@modbee.com or 578-2235.
