Convicted Pasco child rapist sentenced to prison, granted $250,000 appeal bond

A Pasco man was ordered Thursday to serve at least 13  1/2 years in prison for raping a grade-school girl several times in 2011.

Adrian Ray Lopez was sentenced in Franklin County Superior Court, two months after a jury convicted him on two counts of first-degree rape of a child and one count of first-degree child molestation.

A fourth charge for another count of child molestation was dismissed.

Each one of the sex crimes carries a life sentence, which means Lopez will go before the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board after serving the mandatory minimum term.

The board will decide his ultimate release based on whether Lopez has successfully completed sex offender treatment while behind bars and no longer poses a threat to the community.

Lopez, who turns 25 this Sunday , filed a notice of appeal Thursday and was granted a $250,000 appeal bond.

Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Astley, who objected to the bond request, asked Judge Vic VanderSchoor for the high amount to counter defense attorney Scott Johnson’s recommendation for $10,000.

If Lopez is able to post bond, he will remain out of custody while fighting the conviction and sentence in the appellate courts.

Court documents show that Lopez told the girl not to say anything during the summer of 2011, so the girl kept quiet because she was scared.

However, two years after the alleged sexual assaults, the girl became upset during a discussion with a friend about death and was afraid she wouldn’t go to heaven because of what had been done to her.

The girl told law enforcement that Lopez touched her over and under her clothes and forced himself on her, documents said.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Convicted Pasco child rapist sentenced to prison, granted $250,000 appeal bond."