Well Frank, see ya, wouldn't want to be ya.
The family won't be terrorized by you. My condolences to the rest of your family.
Congratulations to Sammy and Jennifer Smith who tried the case and to law enforcement officers who put the case together.
Gaytan gets nearly 2,000 years in prison
- The Herald-ZeitungA New Braunfels man Friday was given a near 2,000-year jail sentence for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl 20 times.
Frank Gaytan, 46, was sentenced to 99 years in prison for each of 20 counts of aggravated sexual assault and 15 years for one count of indecency with a child in the 274th District Court of Judge Gary Steel.
Gaytan was indicted and arrested in May of 2008 after avoiding apprehension for four years. Police extradited him from Seattle.
The jury of six men and six women heard testimony beginning Tuesday from family members, medical professionals and the victim, who is now 10 years old. Both the state and defense rested their cases Wednesday and closing arguments were heard before the jury found Gaytan guilty on all 21 charges.
The jury deliberated Gaytan’s sentence for almost three hours Friday.
Defense attorney Gerry Morris asked the jury to give Gaytan community supervision or probation based on medical testimony.
“Frank Gaytan is mentally retarded,” Morris told the jury. “When Frank was 4 years old, he had a brain tumor. ... Frank operates mentally on the level of a 7-year-old. ... The sum total of the testimony is this: Frank is not like most of us.”
He said the family would take care of Gaytan if he was given community supervision.
Comal County Chief Felony Prosecutor Sammy McCrary argued that Gaytan was more intelligent than he let on.
“He lived here in New Braunfels for a good while by himself,” McCrary said. “He’s a whole lot sharper than (the defense) would have you believe.
“I want you to imagine sitting down with the next 6-year-old little girl that he (touches),” he told the jury. “There’s a real easy way to make sure this never happens to another 6-year-old girl and that’s to put him in a place where they don’t have 6-year-old girls.”
Steel stacked the sentences on top of each other instead of letting them run concurrently.
“This family will not be terrorized anymore,” Steel said.
Tears and celebrations filled the crowded courtroom. Gaytan’s sisters sat outside holding each other and crying, while family members of the victim silently celebrated the victory.
McCrary said the jury made the right choice.
“I certainly hope it sends a message to people that this is not something we tolerate in Comal County,” he said. “I’m pleased for the victims in this case. It’s time this guy got taken off the streets.”
