Modesto man gets the maximum prison sentence for sex crimes against child he adopted

A Modesto man charged with committing a forcible lewd act on a child and rape has been sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Anthony Martin Minatre, 53, pleaded guilty Oct. 18 to one count of a forcible lewd act with a child 10 to 11 years old and one count of rape by force or fear.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Carrie Stephens considered victim impact statements from the minor, two of her brothers and her mother before handing down the maximum sentence under law. The minor’s identity was kept in confidence during the court proceedings.

Stephens ordered that each sentence, 10 years for the lewd act and 13 years for rape, be served consecutively.

Minatre, who was then a janitor at Stella Brockman Elementary School in Manteca, was arrested in January 2020 and charged with sex crimes against his stepdaughter. The victim was not a student of the Manteca Unified School District. The crimes occurred in Stanislaus County.

According to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, the victim was 15 years old when she told her mother that Minatre had been raping her for the past year. She had been adopted by her stepfather at age 3.

The girl told her mother Minatre began touching her sexually when she was 6 or 7 years old, progressing to attempted rape, oral copulation and then forcible rape when she was 10.

When the mother confronted Minatre, he confessed: “I don’t why I did (it), I just did.” The mother called Modesto police, who arrested Minatre and handled the investigation.

According to the prosecution, the girl told police that sexual assaults of some kind occurred almost daily.

A news release from the district attorney said if Minatre is ever released from prison, he will be supervised by parole officers of the California Department of Corrections for at least 20 years and six months after release.