Child abuser sentenced to 28-year term

A Costa Mesa man deserves to die in prison for the sexual crimes he committed against children, a judge told a convicted child molester at a sentencing hearing Friday in Orange County Superior Court.

George England, 61, was sentenced Friday to 28 years in prison for molesting three young girls in his Costa Mesa motor home in 1977. England was convicted nearly 30 years ago, but fled California before his sentencing hearing and had been living under an alias since.

“It is the court’s expectation that the defendant will die in prison,” Judge Robert Fitzgerald said. “That’s appropriate in light of all the crimes the defendant has committed.’

The 28-year sentence is the maximum penalty allowed by law according to the year he was convicted, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lynda Fernandez said.

“These are very egregious types of conduct,” Fitzgerald said. “Now it’s time to pay the piper.”

England used his “daughter” — a girl he purchased in Vietnam and brought to the United States — to lure other young girls to sleep over in his Costa Mesa motor home. England molested the girls several times.

In 1977, he was convicted on four counts of child molestation. Before his scheduled sentencing hearing, a judge let him out on bail to “settle his affairs,” according to the district attorney’s office. England took his “daughter” and fled to Florida, where he lived for 27 years under the identity of a dead child.

He was picked up in Florida on charges of passport fraud and taken to the Orange County Jail in June.

Although England was never convicted of molesting his “daughter,” she later reported that he abused her until she was 16 years old, according to the district attorney’s office.

“It is the court’s expectation that the defendant will die in prison. That’s appropriate in light of all the crimes the defendant has committed,” Fitzgerald said.

Fernandez said England has shown no remorse, only frustration at being charged with the crimes.

Fitzgerald denied the defense attorney E.J. Montanez’s request for probation.

The wheelchair-bound England appeared frail in court Friday. At the sight of media cameras in the courtroom, England shielded his pale face with two manila envelopes. He hobbled out of his wheelchair and propped himself on the side of the custody box while talking to his attorney.