Former California officer sentenced for Gig Harbor child sex crimes

A former California Highway Patrol officer has been sentenced for sexually abusing a young relative in Gig Harbor more than 15 years ago.

A Pierce County jury convicted 37-year-old Jacob M. Duenas in August of two counts of first-degree child rape, two counts of first-degree child molestation and attempted first-degree child rape.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck gave Duenas a high-end sentence of 26 years, 6 months in prison.

Charging papers show the abuse happened in 2000 when Duenas and the young relative were both staying with a family member.

The victim was 8 or 9 at the time.

“On a regular basis I have terrifying flashbacks of the abuse, nightmares and constantly worry on who Jacob’s next victim will be,” the victim wrote the court before the sentencing.

In a court filing in the Gig Harbor case, Duenas’ argued the victim misidentified his abuser. The state argued the evidence didn’t support that.

Detectives spoke with the victim in 2015 as part of a different investigation into molestation allegations, according to court records.

Duenas worked as a California Highway Patrol officer in Monterey County, California, and was convicted of misdemeanor child molestation there in 2008, the Chico Enterprise-Record previously reported.

In 2017 he was sentenced to 180 days in jail and five years probation for felony child molestation in Butte County, the paper reported.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 4:00 PM.