Lucero

When should the court return a father to the home in which he has sexually abused his daughter for years, rather than sentence him to prison? Only when the sentencing judge, after careful consideration of the law which permits that course of action, determines with confidence that all the statutory requirements have been met and penal confinement is not the more appropriate disposition. In this case the court rejected the probation and rehabilitation alternative. Defendant seeks to establish his eligibility for probation and asserts he should have been given an opportunity to reunite the family.

Defendant Tomas Phillip Lucero was charged in a two-count information with incest, a violation of Penal Code section 285, and with a lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14, a violation of section 288. Defendant pled guilty.

The court, before pronouncing sentence, requested psychological evaluation of defendant. At the time of sentencing, the court had before it three psychological evaluations of defendant, a probation report, a report from the public welfare department, letters of reference and a statement by the victim. The court sentenced defendant to the…