People v. Chen CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

According to testimony from the preliminary hearing in this case, Chen engaged in various sexual acts against multiple girls while he worked at Fantasia Performance and Art Center, an after-school facility in Milpitas. The acts took place at the center’s facility and at other locations. One of the girls told her mother about Chen’s actions, and the girl’s mother contacted the police. In the ensuing investigation, Chen admitted to engaging in various sexual acts with the girls and provided the police handwritten apology notes he had written to the girls. The prosecution charged Chen by information with 48 counts alleging various sexual acts against six victims. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Chen pleaded guilty to six counts of lewd or lascivious acts upon children under the age of 14 (§ 288, subd. (a)), one count for each of the victims named in the information. Chen also admitted as to each of the six counts that he committed his offenses against multiple victims (§ 667.61, subds. (b), (e)). Consistent with the plea agreement, the trial court dismissed the remaining counts at sentencing and imposed a total sentence of 30 years to life in…