Jurors convicted him of sexually abusing 2 girls. He ‘thanked’ them for the life sentence

A rapist yelled at a Kennewick jury on Tuesday just moments after he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls.

“You let this snake manipulate your mind,” Juan Jose Luna Huezo shouted as jurors were being led from the courtroom, apparently referring to the prosecutor. “Just to let you know, OK, I’m going away for life. Thank you so much.”

Huezo, 38, faces a minimum of 13 1/2 to 18 years in prison. However, the sex crimes carry a mandatory maximum term of life, which means a state board will determine when he is ready to be released.

Huezo denied the allegations when he testified at his Benton County Superior Court trial, which started Jan. 22.

The grade-school girls took the witness stand last week — one shaking during her testimony, while the other silently cried in the courtroom.

When the girls’ mother began to testify, Huezo immediately stood up in the courtroom and glared at the woman, said witnesses. He refused to take his seat again until Judge Carrie Runge ordered him to.

Deputy Prosecutor Anita Petra said she’s sure it was a hard case for the jurors.

“Two brave little girls took the stand and told the truth. It wasn’t easy and, at times, it was very difficult to watch and to listen to, but the jury clearly believed them,” she told the Herald. “It was a quick verdict and now justice will soon be served at sentencing.”

One victim revealed to a friend last February that she had been sexually abused by Huezo for at least two years. Her friend told a school counselor, who talked with the girl and called police.

The girl later told authorities he would put a blanket in her mouth when she cried or screamed.

She also said he used duct tape on her arms and legs so she could not move, and showed her sex videos so she knew what it should look like, court documents said.

He had last raped her just three days before she told her friend.

Petra said in documents that Huezo molested the younger girl, telling her he was waiting to have sex until she was older.

Police searched two different homes where the girls described being molested and raped, and found evidence that matched their testimony, including a backpack with duct tape, zip ties and a gun and another bag with condoms, documents said.

Jurors deliberated just over an hour and convicted him of first-degree rape of a child and two counts of first-degree child molestation.

All of the charges included the aggravating circumstance that Huezo used a position of trust to abuse the girls. Two counts also were for a pattern of sexual abuse with one girl.

Huezo had been in custody on $300,000 bail. He now is being held without bail.

Sentencing is set tentatively for March 15.

Petra said she will ask the judge for a sentence above the standard range, based on the aggravating factors.

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Jurors convicted him of sexually abusing 2 girls. He ‘thanked’ them for the life sentence."