A 48-year-old convicted sex offender who repeatedly molested a girl in the Aguanga area and possessed child pornography was sentenced Wednesday to 240 years to life in state prison.
Paul Edward Sims pleaded guilty last month to aggravated sexual assault of a minor, lewd acts on a child under 10, possession of child porn, using minors for the production of obscene material, failure to register as a convicted sex offender and several other related charges.
Sims' plea was made directly to Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Mandio at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. The prosecution did not have a say in the plea terms.
Mandio adhered to his previously announced stipulated sentence.
According to court documents, Sims met the victim, whose identity was not released, at unspecified locations in the southwest county region and perpetrated the offenses in 2018 and 2019.
The circumstances behind the sexual assaults were not disclosed, including exactly how the defendant and victim became known to each other.
District Attorney's Office spokesman John Hall told City News Service that staff with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children uncovered Sims' illicit activity involving child porn online, and that culminated in a joint FBI and sheriff's investigation that identified the victim, leading to Sims' arrest on April 24.
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Court documents stated that Sims had a prior conviction from 2000 for lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, for which he served time in prison.
While residing in Riverside County, the defendant did not inform law enforcement officials of his whereabouts, particularly his true residence -- a violation of his parole terms under Penal Code section 290.
