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Cesar Flores pleaded guilty on June 18 to several counts of rape by force and a forcible.A Fresno judge sentenced Flores to 30 years to life plus 16 years, totaling 46 years.Investigators used DNA to link Flores to assaults from 2016 to 2021, including two minors.
A convicted serial rapist was sentenced Monday in Fresno County Superior Court to 46 years in prison for sexually assaulting five women and two minors.
Cesar Flores, 57, showed little emotion and chose not to speak when Judge James Kelly handed down his sentence.
Fresno police said Flores was the missing link to a series of cold-case sexual assaults committed from 2016 to 2021.
Using DNA evidence, investigators connected Flores to the rapes. Detectives also learned that two of Flores’ victims were his daughters, who were minors at the time of the assaults.
According to court records, four of the rapes took place in west and central Fresno, and the fifth was in a rural part of the county west of the city. None of the women were known to Flores. Police said he approached them in public while driving his car. The victims in some of the attacks also accused him of using a knife.
In one attack, a victim escaped by jumping out of his car and into an irrigation canal.
Faced with 22 felony counts, plus sentencing enhancements, Flores was looking at possible term of more than 250 years to life in state prison if found guilty on all counts.
He agreed to a plea deal on June 18. He pleaded guilty to several counts of rape by force and forcible lewd acts upon a child.
Kelly sentenced Flores to 30 to life, plus 16 years. He must also register as a sex offender for life.
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A Valley native, Robert has worked at The Fresno Bee since 1994, covering various topics including education, business, courts and agriculture.