A 54-year-old Grand Junction man convicted of 20 counts of sexual assault has been sentenced to 96 years to life in a state prison, although he intends to appeal the conviction, according to a Mesa County prosecutor.
reports that Larry Dean Church, who was accused of sexually assaulting nine girls and women over several years, was ordered this week to serve multiple sentences consecutively by Mesa County District Judge Thomas Deister.
Church was arrested in January 2015 after an adult woman made allegations against him, and sheriff’s deputies investigating the claim turned up seven more potential victims, two of whom were 5 years old at the time, according to earlier reports. A ninth victim later came forward after learning through media reports about Church’s arrest. All the victims knew Church personally, .
![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
