By Kelly Moran
ALAMEDA – Peter Craig Ford, arrested in Union City in April of 2018 on nine charges of sexual abuse against minors, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by Judge Thomas Nixon of the Alameda County Superior Court.
Eric Duncan, the father of one of Ford’s young victims, spoke out against the defendant before his sentencing was read aloud.
“No matter how much time that Peter gets or if he outlives his sentence, for his victims, and my children…there’s a lifetime of torment and trauma, and they have to deal with that every day of their lives, and their families as well,” said Duncan.
“Pete is a horrible, vile human being that took advantage of everyone’s trust and confidence in him, and it’s really hurt our family,” he added.
Ford, 49, will spend 35 years in prison as part of his punishment. If Ford survives his jail sentence, he will live the rest of his life as a registered sex offender in the state of California, and
will not be allowed any contact with his previous victims.
He is ordered to complete a sex offender program, and all of his video and electronic devices, which Judge Nixon said “should be destroyed,” have been relinquished, or seized by law enforcement.
Amanda Michelle Chavez, who led the prosecution, spoke to the “degree of the depravity” in this case prior to Ford’s sentencing.
“As the court may know I have been doing sexual assault cases for a number of years,” she started, “and in that time there have been only a couple of cases that have stuck out in my mind as some of the worst cases that I’ve seen, and this is one of them.”
Chavez wanted it on the record that “there are three different victims in this case, and two of those victims are recorded with the defendant making this abuse.”
In negotiations between Ford’s defense attorney, Jenny Walters Otis, and Chavez, Ford pleaded no contest to one count of Penal Code section 288(b)(1), one count of PC §288.5, one count of PC §289(a)(1)(B), and two counts of PC §288. These sections of California’s penal code refer to lewd act with a minor child by force or fear, continuous sexual abuse of a child, forced sexual penetration of a child, and lewd acts upon a child.
Ford’s no contest plea means he did not technically plead guilty, but surrendered to the court to decide his punishment.
A woman spoke, she attempted to support the defense by speaking to Ford’s character.
“Peter Ford, he’s been a very positive person,” she began, “he has never been suggested to any type of thing about molesting anybody, so I just wanted to bring that to [the court’s] attention.”
Ford will have to pay a $10,000 fine and will return to the court Nov. 6 to settle the restitution that he owes to his victims and the state.
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