Golden – After hearing victims’ families describe how Joseph Renander ruined their children’s lives by sexually assaulting them, a judge sentenced the former day-care operator Thursday to what amounts to life in prison.
Renander, 29, owned and operated day-care centers in Golden and Lakewood, which were shut down after he was accused of sexually assaulting six girls, ages 3 to 8 years. The assaults took place between 2001 and 2005.
He was found guilty in April of 17 counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and enticement of a child.
Renander’s sentence requires that he serve a minimum of 78 years before he is eligible for parole. He faces additional charges in another case involving Internet child pornography.
On the advice of his attorney, Cobea Becker, Renander did not speak before sentencing. Becker also declined to make a statement or comment.
The judge, parents, prosecutors and police all praised the children for coming forward to report the assaults, saying they hoped Renander’s sentence would deter other offenders.
The assaults were “heinous and disgusting,” Jefferson County District Court Judge Brooke Jackson said. Renander, he said, “committed an offense that our society finds revolting.”
The children “will never forget and never recover from the emotional damage,” Jackson said.
Pam Tubbs, the mother of one of the molested children, told the court that Renander “took her life in his hands and changed her forever.”
She said her daughter was almost held back in second grade last year, remains terrified of male teachers and has nightmares about Renander trying to hurt her.
Tubbs said she couldn’t wait to tell her daughter about the sentence “so some weight can be lifted off of her shoulders.”
Brian Hirschorn, a single father whose three daughters were molested by Renander, told Jackson, “I really put all my trust in him,” and added that Renander was “sheer scum” who deserved a severe sentence.
“I want to hurt him so bad it tears me up inside,” Hirschorn said.
Renander shook his head slowly and closed his eyes as the parents spoke.
Renander testified during his trial in March that he was worried he might become a pedophile but denied the assaults.
His mother, Kathy Renander, said it was “very difficult to have your son accused of such a crime and he didn’t do it. … Our son’s life has been cut off.”
District Attorney Scott Storey and Golden Police Chief Bill Kilpatrick called the sentence “just” and praised the children for coming forward.
“They are the true heroes,” said Storey, who vowed that his office would be “very aggressive” in prosecuting such crimes.
Kilpatrick added, “It takes an amazing amount of courage to stand up in front of a jury and say the kinds of things they had to say.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
