<p><b></b>Judge Sentences Tirso Guzman to 90 Years to Life in Serial Rape Case</p><p> </p>

District Attorney Jill Ravitch has announced that Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Shelly Averill sentenced Tirso Dejesus Guzman to the maximum prison term of 90 years to life for raping three women in 2019. On October 25, 2021 a jury found Guzman guilty of 11 counts of sexually assaulting the three women.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “This predator has forfeited his freedom through the commission of these terrible crimes.  We hope that his sentence will bring some comfort to the victims.”

On June 2, 2019 Guzman met his first victim, June Doe. That evening, after a casual dinner at her house, Guzman surreptitiously drugged June with methamphetamine. The drug rendered her incapable of resisting numerous sexual assaults by Guzman over a several hour period that night. The jury found Guzman guilty of four counts of sexual assault and determined the allegations of drugging her true.

The next night, June 3, 2019, Guzman came across his second victim, Joan Doe, while she rested in her car around midnight. She was intoxicated from wine she drank earlier that night. She agreed to consume drugs with Guzman and snorted something that he provided. The drug caused her to go in and out of consciousness over a prolonged period of time. Guzman took control of her vehicle and drove her around rural areas in West County. Joan Doe woke up in a field to defendant raping her. Guzman was convicted by jury of four counts of drugging, raping, and kidnapping Joan Doe.

Around September 2, 2019 Guzman befriended 75 year old Jane Doe at the apartment for seniors where she lives. Jane Doe felt sorry for the defendant and let him sleep in her home for two nights. Jane Doe suffers from severe dementia and was incapable of fending off Guzman’s sexual assaults. The jury found Guzman guilty of two counts of sexually assaulting elderly Jane Doe.

June Doe, Joan Doe, and Jane Doe’s son and daughter attended the sentencing hearing.  June Doe spoke “from the heart” when she told Judge Averill how Guzman violated her body and mind when he drugged and sexually assaulted her. Joan Doe expressed her pain in trying to deal with the trauma of being raped and kidnapped and how it has affected her ability to function in her daily activities. Jane’s daughter spoke on behalf of her mother. 

Judge Averill found Guzman is a sexual predator and that his crimes were violent and cruel. The court found that all of the victims were particularly vulnerable when Guzman preyed on them. Judge Averill found no circumstances in mitigation applied; instead, she determined that defendant was manipulative and a liar. Accordingly, the court sentenced Guzman to the maximum term of 90 years-to-life in prison.

The case was investigated by the Sebastopol and Santa Rosa Police Departments and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Marianna Green.