© Jose Luis Villegas / jvillegas@sacbee.comTommy Lee Daniels listens as he is sentenced for the conviction of molesting five girls in his Citrus Heights home between 2003 and 2005 Sacramento, Calif.
In handing down the term to the 49-year-old Daniels, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Trena H. Burger-Plavan told the pastor he "took advantage of his position of trust and confidence with very young victims."
Daniels, exhibiting facial grimaces throughout the sentencing hearing, made no comment. He has continued to maintain his innocence. His attorney, Michael L. Chastaine, filed a motion for a new trial that the judge rejected. Chastaine said afterwards he intends to appeal the Dec. 8 verdict handed down by the Sacramento jury.
The five victims in the case were between the ages of 5 and 13 when Daniels touched them inappropriately while they were in his family's care in his Wapiti Place residence. The molestations took place in his house between December 2002 and August 2007.
One of Daniels' victims, who is now 12, began to read her victim's impact statement in the courtroom. She said the molestation "changed me forever." When the girl began to cry, her mother finished the statement where the young victim said she is "terrified of the dark" and has a recurring vision of a "blurred face with a creepy smile" where Daniels' "points at me as if to say, 'I'm coming for you.'"
"I've tried to forget what happened, but I have not been able to and probably will never be able to," the girl's statement said.
that crawled out from under the rotting wood pile.