Fresno educator gets prison for molesting special needs 10-year-old
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A former educator convicted of molesting a 10-year-old student is headed to prison even after begging a judge for mercy Wednesday.
As a 24-year-old instructional aide at a private school for children with special needs, Elder Jimmy Lor got involved in sexual activity with a 10-year-old girl he had groomed since she was 9.
As a 25-year-old in a Fresno County courtroom, he said he'd learned his lesson.
"(I've reflected on) my choices and the decisions that I've made and how foolish and unwise they were," he said. "I want to ask the family's forgiveness and for any harm that I've caused, I'm really sorry."
Lor's attorney says he's taken his crime very seriously and acknowledged his responsibility early.
And Lor asked the judge to let him out of jail about a year after his arrest, despite his felony sex crime conviction, because his mother's health is getting worse.
"I want to ask for your mercy, Your Honor, that you'd give me a second chance to allow me probation and I'll follow all rules, regulations," Lor said. "I'll take any classes that's needed. So I can be out there with my mother to help take care of her, to be there with her."
But prosecutor Liz Owen says Lor has minimized his behavior and still doesn't seem to grasp the impact it had on the girl, and the fact that she couldn't consent to what he did.
"Mr. Lor took advantage of not only his position at that school, but this little girl and her particular vulnerabilities," Owen said.
Judge Michael Idiart decided Lor needed to spend time in prison for his betrayal of trust.
"If we expect anything in our society, in our community, it's that people who send their children to school should have an idea they'll be protected at school and certainly from teachers," the judge said.
Lor will serve a three-year sentence and he gets a felony strike.
He'll also have to register as a sex offender, which should prevent him from ever working at a school again.
