WOODLAND — A former volunteer firefighter and child-molest suspect facing his first day of trial instead made a plea agreement Monday that likely will put him in prison for life.
Xavier Marcia Mancilla, 65, pleaded no contest to two molestation counts, each punishable by 15-years-to-life prison terms that will be served consecutively, Yolo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven said.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 20 before Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson. Mancilla’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Andrea Pelochino, could not be reached for comment on the resolution.
The plea deal occurred Monday as attorneys in the case prepared to pick a jury to hear the allegations against Mancilla, a onetime Yolo volunteer firefighter who faced 34 molest charges for allegedly having ongoing sexual contact with two young girls starting in 2007.
Prosecutor Melinda Aiello had tendered the 30-to-life offer prior to Mancilla’s preliminary hearing in March, but he rejected it at the time.
A Woodland police detective testified during the hearing that Mancilla admitted to the alleged conduct during a pretext phone call with one of the girls, who is now a teenager.
A second girl came forward following Mancilla’s arrest, alleging conduct between October 2014 and January of this year, when Mancilla was taken into custody.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene