A man who broke into a University City apartment and raped a 6-year-old girl sleeping on a sofa 30 years ago was sentenced Monday to 60 years to life in state prison.
Michael Douglas Graham, 67, was identified and charged as the perpetrator of the 1996 assault after DNA linked him to the crime decades later.
Prosecutors say Graham sneaked into the apartment just before 5 a.m., incapacitated the sleeping girl with a “caustic agent” that rendered her unconscious and left her with third-degree burns on her face, then raped her.
The case went cold, but according to a prosecutor’s sentencing brief, in 2022, a USB flash drive containing material depicting child sexual abuse was discovered among his belongings in Colorado. It was reported to police, who allegedly found additional evidence on other devices of Graham’s.
He was charged by Colorado prosecutors with felony sex crimes. Two weeks later Colorado authorities notified San Diego police that after submitting his DNA to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, Graham was found to be the sole DNA contributor in the San Diego case, the brief states.
Graham was set to go to trial in San Diego earlier this year when he pleaded guilty during jury selection to forcible rape and other charges, including a special allegation that he inflicted torture on the child.
The victim’s mother wrote a letter that was read aloud in court during Graham’s sentencing hearing.
“After this day and for many years after, this horrendous crime devastated my family and affected us in so many ways.”
She said the family immediately moved and to this day, she won’t live in a first-floor residence out of fear of a similar break-in.
“Now, after 30 years, writing this statement brought so many painful memories and tears. I am thankful that you, Mr. Graham, are behind bars and will be locked up for a very long time. You don’t deserve to be free, and I am relieved that you cannot hurt other innocent lives,” she wrote.
Defense attorney Peter Blair said his client was “fully ashamed and fully remorseful” and “hates himself for what he did.” He argued for a 25-years-to-life sentence that he said would essentially be a life sentence due to Graham’s age and health issues,
Graham made a statement during the hearing, in which he said the victim’s mother’s letter “breaks my heart” and said he did not “feel worthy to even live.”
Superior Court Judge Robert Amador, who sentenced Graham to the 60-years-to-life term requested by prosecutors, said: “This crime is absolutely horrific. It is the nightmare of every parent.”
The judge excoriated Graham, calling the act “unconscionable” and saying his possession of a chemical to incapacitate the victim showed his planning and preparation to commit the crime, as well as “something much more evil than merely some psychological problems that he had.”
Amador said he only possibly considered a lesser sentence due to Graham’s guilty plea, but found that the “suffering” of the victim and her family “is deserving of no forgiveness.”
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement, “For nearly 30 years, this sexual child predator escaped justice for his criminal acts while the victim and her family had to live in fear and suffer through horrendous trauma. Today, that ends. The defendant will have to live the rest of his years behind bars, paying for what he did.”
