Mar 6, 2008 9:26 pm US/Pacific
Woman Given 50 Years For Sex Crimes Against Niece
SANTA ANA
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Sheila Sikat, 28, was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison for her role in sex crimes against her niece. Prosecutors said Sikat videotaped four hours of assaults her boyfriend committed on Sikat's niece, then 4.
CBS
Sheila Sikat, the Rancho Santa Margarita woman who admitted to videotaping her boyfriend sexually assaulting her 4-year-old niece, was sentenced Thursday to 50 years behind bars.
Sikat, 28, told a judge in an emotional statement during a pre-sentencing hearing two weeks ago that she deserved to be punished for her actions, even though her sister -- the victim's mother -- asked for leniency.
In announcing the sentence Friday, Superior Court Judge Gary Paer said "society deserves zero tolerance in these types of offenses."
Sikat was convicted on Dec. 17 of 55 sex-related charges including multiple counts of lewd conduct, anal or genital penetration by a foreign
object, using a minor for a sex act and oral copulation.
According to prosecutors, four hours of video was shot on five different occasions.
Sikat's boyfriend, David Shoutyh Hwang, 36, pleaded guilty to 60 counts of child molesting in October 2006 and is serving a term of 50 years to life in prison.
The two were referred to as husband and wife during Sikat's trial, but in her statement, Sikat denied that she and Hwang were married.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Beth Carmichael asked that Sikat be sentenced to 60 years.
The victim's mother, whose name was withheld, said her now 10-year-old
daughter is doing well and has no memories of the events. Judge Paer, however, said the mother was "in denial" for forgiving her sister.
During Sikat's trial, Hwang was allowed to leave prison and testify on her behalf. He testified that he had drugged her to gain her compliance.
He said he blended "roofies," a drug causing lethargy and memory loss, in a drink and gave it to Sikat to get her participation.
He said that when she dimly remembered what happened, he told her that
she was depicted on the tape and would be held as accountable as he if she went to authorities.
The case came to light when a housekeeper discovered some tapes while the two purportedly were on a honeymoon. The so-called "little chest of
horrors" in a bedroom closet contained 212 tapes.
Sikat and Hwang were arrested on Sept. 3, 2003, after Orange County
sheriff's investigators served a search warrant on the couple's home.
He is accused in Texas of videotaping sex with five other girls, one as young as 8 months old, but authorities from that state have not extradited himto stand trial, according to Carmichael.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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