Benton City man claims a girl wanted to have sex. She had his baby after he raped her

A Benton City man has gone to prison for impregnating a teen girl he had been raping for several years.

Serafin Barrera Mendoza, 46, initially denied ever touching the girl, then admitted it happened one time when he was drunk.

In an apology letter to the girl after his arrest, Mendoza asked for forgiveness and said he felt bad.

But he also mentioned he has “lost everything” because of the criminal case, and questioned why the girl didn’t “say that it wasn’t true,” according to a presentencing investigation report.

He instructed the girl to tell her relatives that she was “partially at fault, and that you also agreed (to) it to happen,” Mendoza wrote in the letter that was translated from Spanish. “You don’t know how bad I feel about everything. I don’t know what to do. What I can tell you, is that I don’t know why all the charges.”

Mendoza was sentenced recently in Benton County Superior Court to 23 years and four months in prison.

He must serve that full minimum term before a state board will review his case and decide if he is ready for release, since the sentence carries a maximum of life.

Was in a position of trust

Mendoza pleaded guilty in July to four sex crimes, including first-degree child molestation, second-degree rape of a child and third-degree child rape.

Each count included aggravating circumstances that Mendoza was in a position of trust and that the crime involved a pattern of sexual abuse. One charge also included the aggravating circumstance that the child victim became pregnant.

According to court documents, the teen complained of stomach cramps and went to a hospital with her mother.

Neither reportedly knew at the time that the girl was pregnant because she had gained little weight. She ended up giving birth in the hospital.

The teen disclosed to medical staff that Mendoza must be the father of the newborn because he had been sexually abusing her, documents said.

She later told Benton County sheriff’s deputies that it had started about five years prior, and escalated from Mendoza touching her to raping her at least two times a month. She said she would tell him “no,” but he ignored her and refused to stop, court documents said.

When Mendoza learned the teen had gone to the hospital and had a baby, and that authorities had become involved, he took off.

He was caught four days later after the sheriff’s department posted a wanted memo on social media and a tipster revealed Mendoza’s location.

Admitted to grooming the victim

Mendoza told Detective Lee Cantu that he may have had sex with the girl one night in 2018 when he was intoxicated and she allowed it, documents said. He then admitted grooming her for two to three months before then.

Mendoza became tearful when he first intended to plead guilty in late May, but then he changed his mind and the hearing was canceled.

After his guilty plea in July, Mendoza refused to participate with the state Department of Corrections in its presentencing investigation. He told a community corrections officer that he didn’t see how giving an interview would help his case since the prosecutor was going to be recommending a sentence at the top of the standard range.

This was Mendoza’s first felony conviction. His criminal history includes negligent driving, a DUI and driving with a suspended license.

He was picked up by corrections officials Wednesday morning and transferred to a state prison.